Playing shorthanded against Los Angeles Harbor College on Wednesday night, the Cerritos College men's basketball team used an up-tempo style to post a 78-68 win. With the victory, the Falcons (17-9, 5-0) remain in first place in the South Coast Conference South Division with three regular season games remaining. They will host Los Angeles Southwest College at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. The game has been moved up from 7:00 p.m. because there won't be a women's game.

Cerritos was missing three players due to disciplinary action, but it didn't slow down their frantic style of play in an effort to wear down the Seahawks (13-13, 3-3), who looked to play a slow, half court game. The Falcons played the game with just seven players.

In the first several minutes of the game, it didn't look like their quick-shot approach was going to work, as they opened the game 0-for-8 from the field, with five of those misses from three-point range. They were 1-for-11 before shots started to fall. Freshman Luis Medearis (View Park HS) was the first to drain one from long range and he finished with a trio of three-pointers by intermission. In fact, it was a buzzer-beater from three-point range at the buzzer by sophomore Jonathan Brown (Fairfax HS) that gave Cerritos a 31-28 leat at the half.

The Seahawks took their last lead of the game with 12:07 remaining in the second half on a Dushone Brown (24 points) bucket for a 41-40 score. But sophomore Jay Merriweather (Temescal Canyon HS) netted a three-pointer and the Falcons were on their way to a double-digit lead.

Swarming defense by Cerritos led to consecutive LA Harbor turnovers, which resulted in fast-break buckets. Quick-strike scoring by both sophomore Khalid Washington (Los Alamitos HS/Central Wyoming College) and Medearis put the team on top, 56-48 with 7:18 left. When Washington followed with a three-pointer, the Falcons were up 59-48. After taking a 13-point lead (72-59), the Seahawks started to pressure the ball in the back court, which resulted in consecutive baskets and an eight-point game (72-64) with 2:07 left.

However, Washington (18 points) and Brown, who scored 16 points off the bench, converted their free throws to secure the win. He also dished out a team-high six assists.

The limited numbers allowed both Brown and Medearis (15 points, four assists) to score in double-figures off the bench, while Washington led the team. Merriweather played a solid all-around game, as he finished with 11 points, five rebounds and two steals, while sophomore Kyle Geer (Bassick, CT HS/Cuesta College) posted eight points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Photos by Daryl Peterson