ORANGE — The Antelope Valley College men’s basketball team fought for a shot at the Elite Eight on Saturday, but ultimately fell to host Santiago Canyon, 90-87, in the Sweet Sixteen of the 3C2A SoCal Regionals.
The No. 21-seeded Marauders (17-13) trailed the No. 6 Hawks (21-8) 53-44 at halftime, but made up ground at the start of the second half. The two teams played even for most of the second half with the teams trading two-point leads.
Mister Burnside tied the game at 78 with a layup with 2 minutes, 50 seconds remaining. Both teams missed shots over the next minute before Santiago Canyon’s Dominic Bolton made a jump shot and was fouled, tacking on the free throw for a three-point lead, 81-78, with 1:48 remaining.
The Hawks stretched their lead to five on a jump shot by Jacob de Armas, who later slammed down a dunk for an 85-79 lead.
Santiago maintained the five-point lead as the two teams exchanged shots. Near the end of the game, AVC’s Trovary Cavil knocked down a 3-pointer to pull the Marauders within two, 89-87. But the Hawks hit one of two free throws to stretch the lead to three.
Burnside rebounded the missed free throw and chucked the ball at the AVC basketball from the top of the Santiago Canyon key, but his shot fell short as the buzzer sounded.
Burnside and Amado Coleman each had double-doubles. Burnside led the Marauders with 34 points and added 10 rebounds, three assists and one steal, while Coleman led the team with 12 rebounds, adding 15 points, three assists and one steal.
Cavil scored 21 points with four assists and two steals, while Rahjon Chambers and Max Riley each scored five points, Keelan Benjamin put in three points and Rip Vagaia and Izzy Harrington added two points apiece.
It was the final AVC game for sophomores Burnside, Chambers and Vagaia.
Bolton led the Hawks with 22 points, while De Armas was close behind at 21 points.
Santiago Canyon moves on to the Elite Eight to play at No. 3 Cerritos this Saturday.