Antelope Valley Gets a Travel Tip

LANCASTER —  Shaun Murray, humbly downplaying perhaps the biggest basket of his career, called it a basic play.

Talk about your basic understatement.

Murray tipped in a shot with five seconds left in overtime to give Antelope Valley College a 102-101 men’s basketball victory over Chaffey in a Southern California Regional game Saturday night before 879 at Antelope Valley.

“I was at the right place at the right time,” Murray said. “It’s as simple as that. . . . I was just going for the offensive rebound.”

The Marauders (30-4) advanced to the state championships this week at San Jose State.

Antelope Valley scored the winning basket after missing on what appeared to be their last opportunity with nine seconds left when a short jumper by John Burrell, who had 10 points in overtime, bounced off the rim and over the backboard.

Antelope Valley’s Jonathan George tipped the inbounds pass from Kenyatta Niles and Trevor Beal picked up the loose ball. Beal pulled up for a 12-foot jumper that caromed off the rim to Murray.

“I’ll remember one offensive rebound for the rest of my life,” Coach Newton Chelette said. “Our Achilles’ heel has been our offensive rebounding.”

Terrence Moore of Chaffey (26-11) sent the game into overtime on a layup that tied the score, 87-87, with five seconds to play.

The Marauders squandered several 10-point leads in the second half, the last one at 61-51 with 13:30 remaining.

Antelope Valley, seeded No. 2 in the regional and ranked No. 2 in the state, led at halftime, 38-36, despite making only 34.3% (12 of 35) of its shots. They shot 50.7% (38 of 75) in the game.

Burrell scored 32 points and Michael Hamelin had 23 points for the Marauders, who will make their second state championship appearance in school history. Greg Austin had 36 points for Chaffey.