After leading the South Coast Conference South Division from the start, the Cerritos College men's basketball team found themselves in a must-win situation on Wednesday. The Falcons, who dropped their last two games, slipped a half game behind Los Angeles Harbor College heading into their game. But with a 62-51 win over the Seahawks, Cerritos (15-10, 9-3) clinched at least a share of the divisional title and close out the regular season by hosting Los Angeles Southwest College at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. As for LA Harbor (13-12, 9-4), their regular season is over and will wait to see about the outcome of the game against the Cougars.

The Falcons opened up quickly against the Seahawks, thanks in part to four three-pointers from sophomore guard Chris Wyms (King-Drew HS/West Los Angeles CC). In the first 20 minutes, Cerritos netted six shots from beyond the arch, and took a 33-20 lead into the half after a buzzer-beater by sophomore forward Andrew Torres (Montbello HS/Humboldt State).

In the second half, the lead swelled to 15 points (42-27) after a three-point play by sophomore guard Anthony Holliday (Norwalk HS) with 15:35 remaining. But LA Harbor was able to slowly work their way back to within striking distance after a Tony Bell basket got the Seahawks to a 50-41 score with 9:08 left. Cerritos received a steal and coast-to-coast basket by Holliday (16 points) with 7:55 left for a 54-41 advantage and in spite of the team's poor second half free throw shooting (11-for-21), they were able to hold on for the win.

In addition to the Holliday production, Wyms added 16 points off the bench, while freshman Terence Traylor (Dominguez HS) made a rare start and led the team with nine rebounds to go along with his six points. Freshman Kevin Conrad (Buena Park HS) chipped in with six points, while sophomore Marquise Washington (Westchester HS/Cypress College) added five points and three blocked shots. Keith Mason led LA Harbor with 10 points.

Photo by Daryl Peterson