 |
Photo by Juan Velez.
Brian Barner led Cerritos with 18 points
to help Cerritos defeat East LA 70-60
Wednesday night. |
|
Photo
Gallery |
|
After opening up a
15-point lead (39-24) at halftime in their South
Coast Conference crossover game at home on Wednesday
night, the Cerritos College men's basketball team
didn't score their first point in the second half
until 7:09 had expired. By then, their lead over
East Los Angeles College had dwindled to a 39-37
advantage. However, sophomore guard
Van Girard
(Gahr HS) scored 10 consecutive points over
the next 1:35 to regain a double-digit lead and the
Falcons went on to post a 70-60 victory. The win by
Cerritos (3-4) was their first at home for
first-year head coach
Jesse
Teplitzky, while the Huskies dropped to
4-5 on the year. The Falcons will look for their
second win in a row when they host College of the
Canyons at 6:30 p.m. next Wednesday.
In the second
half, East LA closed to within seven points (53-46)
with 4:56 remaining. After freshman guard
Brian
Barner (Palisades HS) hit a
running jumper with 4:06 left to give the Falcons a
57-46 lead, the team scored the remainder of their
points from the free throw line. As a team, Cerritos
went 13-of-17 from the free throw line in the final
4:06, with freshman Jonathan Garcia
(St. John Bosco HS) converting all four of
his attempts, while freshman
Jeremy Pope
(Mayfair HS) made three-of-four.
Cerritos opened
the game in strong fashion and quickly took a
10-point lead (16-6) after Barner hit his second of
four first-half three-pointers, en route to 14
points. The lead swelled to as many as 18 points
(34-16) after another Barner trey before settling on
a 39-24 lead at intermission.
Barner led a
contingent of four players who scored in
double-digits with 18 points, while freshman forward
Marcellus Jackson (Independence HS)
added 14 points and a team-high 11 rebounds. Girard
(12 points, five rebounds) and sophomore forward
Gregory Preer (St. Vincent St. Mary
(OH) HS/Ashland (OH) HS) contributed 11 points
and three blocked shots. The Falcons also recorded
16 steals, with freshman guard
Leo Arnold
(Santa Monica HS) leading the way with
four.
Ralph Nevarez led
East Los Angeles with 17 points and 13 rebounds,
while Jeremy Gerardo (14 points) and Lester Keys (10
points, nine rebounds) also scored in double
figures.
|
