It seems to be a pattern this season where the Cerritos College men's basketball team hits a shooting slump at some point in the game. The Falcons experienced that again on Wednesday night at Compton, where they watched ECC Compton Center finish the first half on a 15-3 run for a 45-32 advantage. It would be a deficit Cerritos (9-15) could not overcome in an 82-68 setback. The team will resume South Coast Conference South Division play on Friday at 5:00 p.m. when they host Los Angeles Harbor College.

With the Tartars leading 30-29 with 6:16 left in the first half, the Falcons shot 1-for-7 and committed four turnovers the rest of the half. The Falcons would only get as close as 10 points (57-47) after sophomore Micah Winn (Crenshaw HS) drained a three-pointer with 12:34 left in the game. But ECC Compton Center sliced through the Cerritos defense and scored 14 points in the paint, as they were on their way to a win.

Sophomore Jeff Gonzalez (Riverside Poly, Riverside City College) led the team with 15 points, 11 rebounds and three assists, while freshman Jay Merriweather (Temescal Canyon HS) contributed 11 points. Sophomore Josh Bell (Long Beach Wilson HS) came off the bench to finish with 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting, with Winn posting 10 points.