When freshman
forward
Marcellus
Jackson (Independence HS)
converted two free throws with 4:41 remaining in the
second half, the Cerritos College men's basketball
team was holding a slim 56-54 lead over top-seeded
Saddleback College in the second round of the
Southern California Regional Playoffs. But the
Gauchos scored the next nine points, while
the 17th-seeded Falcons didn't score again until
there was 21.1 seconds left in the game. By the time
the clock ran out Saddleback (26-7) was advancing
with a 65-61 win, which ends the Cerritos season at
15-14.
The Falcons, who
held as much as a 10-point lead in the first half
(34-24), finally lost the lead they were holding
when Terrell Mack hit a short jumper with 8:52 left
in the second for a 48-47 Saddleback lead. It was
also Mack who drained a three-pointer with 1:53 left
that broke a 56-56 tie, giving the Gauchos a lead
they would not relinquish the remainder of the game.
Playing the
reckless abandon, the Cerritos defense seemed to
cause a lot of problems for the much taller
Saddleback team. Unable to get open shots from the
outside, the Falcon offense decided to take the ball
to the basket in the second half, and the Gauchos
ended up blocking nine shots on the game, with seven
of them coming in the second half.
Coming off the
bench, sophomore guard
Van Girard
(Gahr HS) led the Falcons with 15 points,
while he hauled in 14 rebounds, while Jackson
finished with 11 points and a game-high 18 rebounds.
Freshman guards
Jeremy Pope
(Mayfair HS) and
Brian
Barner (Palisades HS) each
scored nine points, while freshman guard
Sean
Chennault (Ben Franklin (PA) HS)
finished with eight. Saddleback's Kevin Mennard was
unstoppable at times, as he converted 12-of-19 shots
and led all scorers with 29 points, while Mack
finished with 14 points off the bench.
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