With their 62-50 South Coast Conference crossover win over host Mt. San Antonio College on Friday night, the Cerritos College men's basketball team extended their winning streak to four in a row. The Falcons (12-2), ranked #4 in Southern California, will host #9-ranked Chaffey College at 5:00 p.m next Wednesday in another conference crossover game.
It was a solid defensive effort by Cerritos in their win over the Mounties (5-8), as they blocked an amazing 20 shots, with sophomore Dezmon Murphy (La Mirada HS) accounting for nine rejected shots to go along with his six points, five rebounds and four assists off the bench. Joining him in blocking multiple shots was freshman Daelyn Bams (Villa Park HS), who turned away six Mt. SAC shots, along with eight points and six rebounds. The shot blocking performance limited Mt. San Antonio to just 23.3% from the field, which offset the Falcons turning the ball over 18 times.
A short-lived 6-4 early lead by Mt. SAC was eliminated early on when sophomore guard Tawon Elston (Roosevelt HS) converted a pair of free throws and then followed with a three-pointer. The last Mounties lead came at 12-11 with 12:58 remaining in the first half. Cerritos went on to score 12 of the next 15 points for a 23-15 lead, which included consecutive three-pointers from sophomore Jamal Heckard (Carson HS/El Camino HS) and freshman Chance Hunter (Inglewood HS) over the next 6:34.
Taking a 29-18 advantage into halftime, the Falcons continued to add to their lead, which swelled to 58-38 with less than 5:00 left in the game. By the end of the game, Elston led all scorers with 18 points, while Hunter finished with 17 points. Along with Bams and Murphy, sophomore Christian Alvis-Labadie (Whittier Christian HS) added six points and six rebounds off the bench, with Heckard dishing out a team-high seven assists.