Arman Zadeh, sports editor 
In a key game for the basketball team, the Normans were defeated by Samo, 63-62, on Wednesday, Jan. 16. After winning their first two games of the season, the boys team dropped one game, giving them a league record of 2-1, second to Samo’s 3-0.
Despite hard work from the team, Beverly was not able to keep up with Samo’s offense, led by guard Jordan Mathews.
One of the key factors leading to the loss was Beverly’s inefficiency from the free throw line.
“Our biggest weakness probably was our free throws,” head coach Jarvis Turner said. “We went 11 for 21 from the free throw line and ended up losing the game by one point.”
In the last three minutes of the game, Beverly held a 10 point lead over Samo. Taking advantage of a Beverly cold streak, Samo cut the deficit by nine points and was only down by one with under a minute left. In the final seconds of the game, Samo was able to convert on a key layup that would prove to be the game winner.
“I thought we played hard, it was a close game for pretty much the whole game,” Turner said. “We played hard but we didn’t play great, we missed a lot of free throws, missed a couple easy layups, and that ended up losing us the game.”
“It was just a really tough loss,” guard Siavash Yektafar said.
Beverly has now lost four of their last five matchups with Samo in the last three years.
Following the loss, the team head into its next matchup against Inglewood on Friday, Jan. 18, holding the second seed in the Ocean League. Results were not available in time for the press.