Traveling south to Oceanside, the Cerritos College men's basketball team earned a pair of wins at the MiraCosta Tournament. The Falcons (10-4) opened with a 78-76 win over #10-ranked San Diego Miramar College (11-2) and followed with a 73-60 win over the host Spartans. Ranked #22 in the state, Cerritos will now host #24-ranked Santiago Canyon College at 7:00 p.m. on December 30.

In the win over Miramar, the Falcons received balanced scoring, as four players scored in double figures. Coming off the bench, freshman Gary Williams (Dominguez HS) converted 5-of-10 shots and finished with 16 points to go along with his five rebounds, while freshman Taeo Thomas (Verbum Dei HS) was good on all six of his free throws to help him score 10 points, along with five steals, four rebounds and two assists off the bench.

The sophomore duo of Jalen Shores (Lakewood HS) and Jonathan Salazar (St. John Bosco HS/New Mexico Military Institute CC) each scored 14 points, while sophomore Dennis Johnson (Compton HS) posted nine points. Salazar led the team with nine rebounds before fouling out, while the team secured the win by connecting on 26-of-32 free throws in the game.

Salazar secured his eighth double-double of the season with his 13-point, 15-rebound performance in the win over MiraCosta. He and Shores, who led the way with 23 points, each drained three three-pointers, with Williams joining along with a trio of three-pointers on his way to 14 points and seven rebounds in a starting role. Freshman Christian Bennett (Redondo Union HS) added support from off the bench with seven points, while the other four players who scored each accounted for four points.

The Falcons made 10 three-pointers in the win over the Spartans.