A slow start against host El Camino College on Wednesday night did not deter the Cerritos College men's basketball team. The Falcons (8-10, 2-1) turned a late three-point first half deficit into a 14-2 run that put the team up by nine points (35-26), as they went on to post a 66-54 victory. The team will now host rival Long Beach City College at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.

Leading 38-28 with 10:48 remaining in the second half, Cerritos suffered a blow to their offense, as leading scorer Micah Winn (Crenshaw HS) was ejected from the game due to a scuffle after he was fouled hard. Although he had struggled from the field up until that point, Winn was coming off a 24-point affair and had just connected on his last shot. He finished the game with five points and will have to miss Friday's game.

Picking up the scoring slack was sophomore Jeff Gonzalez (Riverside Poly HS/Riverside City College), who scored 11 of his game-high 19 points after the departure of Winn. Sophomore Taylor Douglas (Mayfair HS) came off the bench and provided 10 points, which included a pair of three-pointers, for the Falcons.

Sophomore forward Josh Bell (Long Beach Wilson HS) added nine points and eight rebounds, while freshman Jay Merriweather (Temescal Canyon HS) also drained a pair of three-pointers on his way to seven points. Freshmen Cristian Perez (Santa Fe HS) and Earl Morgan (Dominguez HS) added more depth off the bench, as they combined for nine rebounds, while Perez provided seven points.

Photos by Daryl Peterson