The final buzzer had sounded and the six members of the Rio Hondo College men's basketball team began to celebrate what they thought was a 68-67 win over the visiting Pasadena City College Lancers on Wednesday.

But a foul was called on Pasadena's third put-back attempt just before the clock expired. PCC's Chris Blount sank 1 of 2 free throws to send the game to overtime.

In OT, Rio Hondo came up just short and was outscored 6-5 allowing Pasadena to escape with the 74-73 win to open South Coast Conference North Division play for both squads.

Rio Hondo had a pair of chances to win the game over the final 20 seconds of overtime. Uziel Felix missed a jumper with 18 seconds remaining and Kevin Sandoval's three-point attempt with four seconds left also did not go in.

Elijah McElroy had a huge game for Rio Hondo in the loss. He totaled a double-double with 20 points and 13 rebounds. Jonathan Martinez and Bryant Howing both scored 17 points while Feliz posted 10 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists.

Chris Odionu had 18 points and 14 rebounds to lead Pasadena (13-6, 1-0 SCC).

The loss dropped Rio Hondo to 3-16 overall and 0-1 in SCC North play. The Roadrunners will look to snap their eight-game losing streak on Friday (Jan. 25) when they travel to No. 15 state-ranked L.A. Trade Tech for a 5 p.m. SCC North contest.