The Cerritos College men's basketball team shot 64% in the first half of their South Coast Conference game at Cal Poly Pomona on Friday night to open up a 42-28 lead over rival Long Beach City. Although they cooled off in the second half and finished the game connecting on 59% of their shots on their way to an 80-68 win to improve to 9-7 overall and 2-0 in conference play. The Falcons will now host East Los Angeles College at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday at Hope International University.

Expanding their lead to 23 points (58-35) with 13:02 left in the second half, Cerritos was able to withstand a Vikings (5-11, 0-2) comeback that got the score to within 69-61 with 4:22 left in the second half. But a pair of offensive rebound baskets on their next two possessions by sophomore David Hall (Lynwood HS/Yavapai, AZ CC) and sophomore Marquise Washington (Westchester HS/Cypress College) gave the team a double-digit lead they would not relinquish the remainder of the game.

In the first half, it was the hot hand of sophomore Anthony Holliday (Norwalk HS), who scored 16 of his game-high 18  points, while Hall contributed 10 of his 16 points in the latter half of the game.

Long Beach City received  pair of three-pointers from Rueben Strickland during their late rally, while Cole Clark (nine points) and Ashton Edwards (seven points) also made contributions. Washington provided 14 points and four rebounds off the bench for Cerritos, with Hall and freshman Kevin Conrad (Buena Park HS), who had 12 points, four rebounds and four steals, also scoring in double-figures.

Photo by Daryl Peterson