Trailing the entire night against host Citrus College, the Cerritos College men's basketball team saw their season come to an end with a 79-67 loss in the 2nd Round of the Southern California Regional Playoffs. The Falcons (21-7), the #10-seed, had no answer for two hot-handed Owls (24-6), the #6-seeded team for the post-season.
The night started with Tyler Lacour scoring the first eight points of the game for Citrus, who opened an early 10-2 lead. After a Lacour three-pointer made it a 20-12 game with 9:41 left in the first half, Cerritos started to make a move. Sophomore Tyler Payne (La Mirada HS) drained a three-pointer, followed by a bucket from sophomore Cristian Perez (Santa Fe HS) to get the team to within 20-17.
But like they've experienced in several other losses this year, the Falcons went cold for a period of time, which put them behind even more. They went 3:17 before their next basket and by the time it was halftime, Cerritos was down, 33-27.
A 20-9 second half run pulled the team to within 47-42 after sophomore Devan Burrell (Centennial, NV HS/Cypress College) converted one of two free throws with 12:38 remaining. But like they did to start the game, Citrus turned to Lacour (23 points) and Jeremy Smith (20 points) to pull away and led, 61-44 with 7:46 left after a 14-2 run. Cerritos scored the final six points of the game, which made it a 12-point setback.
Perez led the team with 19 points and seven rebounds, while Payne finished with 12 points, all coming on three-pointers. Aside from Payne going 4-for-7 from long distance, the Falcons were a combined 2-for-17, while converting only 13-of-21 free throws. Perez was a perfect 8-for-8 from the charity stripe. Sophomore Salvador Carlos (Downey HS/Biola University) added nine points and six boards, with Burrell accounting for eight points and five rebounds off the bench.