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One month ago, the
Cerritos College men's basketball team was watching
their season slide out from under them, as they were
mired in a seven-game losing slump and a 4-12
record. Fast forward to the second week of February
and the Falcons are assured at least a tie of first
place in the South Coast Conference South Division
after a convincing 76-60 win at Long Beach City
College on Friday night. The victory was the seventh
in a row for Cerritos, who are now 12-13 overall and
7-1 in divisional play with two games to go. They
will host ECC Compton Center next Wednesday and then
close out the regular season next Friday at home
against Los Angeles Harbor College.
Just like in their
first meeting against LBCC, the Falcons used a
swarming half-court defensive trap that seemed to
stymie the Vikings, especially in the first half
when Cerritos opened up a big lead. It was a quick
11-2 lead just four minutes into the game, as the
Falcons got a three-pointer from freshman guard
Jeremy Pope (Mayfair HS),
followed by baskets from freshman forward Marcellus
Jackson (Independence HS) and
sophomore guard
Jeremiah
Barnes (Los Altos HS) - all
off Viking turnovers. The lead was 19 points after a
cutting move by sophomore
Gregory
Preer (St. Vincent-St. Mary (OH)
HS/Ashland (OH) University) made the score 27-8
and the Falcons maintained that lead into the locker
room, leading 41-22.
Cerritos forced 19
first-half turnovers, which accounted for 25 of
their points in the first 20 minutes. It was more of
the same in the second half, as the lead continued
to grow. It became a 20-point lead (49-29) after a
sophomore guard
Van Girard
(Gahr HS) tip-in, while freshman guard
Brian Barner (Palisades HS)
drained a three-pointer with 13:01 left to make the
score, 52-29.
Preer was cleared
at the top of the key on two straight possessions
and netted three-pointers to give the Falcons their
largest lead of the game, 60-35 with 8:58 remaining.
While Cerritos was draining six three-pointers, the
Vikings were missing their first 12 treys, until
Randolph White made one well after the outcome was
decided.
Six different
Falcons scored in double-figures, led by Preer, who
finished with 16 points, six rebounds and four
steals, while Jackson accounted for 12 points, 13
rebounds and three blocked shots. Girard (11 points,
five rebounds) and Pope (11 points, four assists)
were joined by Barner, who had 10 points. Freshman
guard
Leo Arnold
(Santa Monica HS) also scored 10 points and
played superb defense.
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