Basketball : L. A. Baptist Pair Anchor Victory Over Village Christian

What started out as the J. D. Strong show segued into the Reid Chobanian hour as L. A. Baptist took a 61-52 Alpha League victory over Village Christian at L. A. Baptist and pulled to within 1 game of the first-place Crusaders.

Strong got the Knights off to a fast start with 2 steals, 2 rebounds and 8 of his team’s 15 points in the first quarter. But ultimately, it was Chobanian who was the difference for L. A. Baptist. The forward scored 11 of his game-high 17 points in the second half.

“I wanted this game for myself and the team,” Chobanian said. “I felt I was in the right place at the right time.”

L. A. Baptist (16-6, 4-3 in league play) took a 32-28 halftime lead, but forward Mike Curl turned the momentum, scoring 9 points in the third quarter to pull Village Christian into a 41-41 tie by the end of the period.

Village Christian (8-10, 5-2) came out in the fourth quarter to take a four-point lead behind the shooting of Scott Danielson, who fouled out with 45 seconds to play, and David Brownfield.

Curl fouled out with 3 minutes to play, leaving Village Christian with little offense. L. A. Baptist proceeded to build a margin that Village Christian could not bridge behind the shooting of Dave Unter--who finished with 13 points--and Chobanian.