On the strength of their 80-72 South Coast Conference win over Los Angeles Southwest College on Friday night, the Cerritos College men's basketball secured the outright title of the South Division. The Falcons (16-10, 10-3), winners of three of the last four divisional titles, will now wait until Monday to find out where they will be seeded for the Southern California Regional Playoffs, which get underway next Wednesday with the 13-20 seeds competing in play-in games, while the other 12 teams receive a bye.

Against the Cougars (8-18, 4-9), Cerritos held leads of as much as 18 points (43-25) in the first half and then a 17-point advantage (59-42) with 11:07 left in the game. But LA Southwest received a trio of three-pointers from Charles Glaster to get the game as close as 72-65 with 1:17 remaining. As soon as it was a seven-point game, sophomore Anthony Holliday (Norwalk HS) calmly netted a three-pointer to put the lead back at 10 points, and the game finished with both teams shooting free throws.

In the first half, freshman Jordan Reise (Huntington Beach HS) led the way with 12 points, as the Falcons held a 45-33 lead at intermission. It was a balanced effort in the victory, with five players scoring in double-figures, while Cerritos out-rebounded LA Southwest, 52-39. Sophomore Marquise Washington (Westchester HS/Cypress College) led the way with 18 points and 16 rebounds for the Falcons, while Holliday (16 points, three rebounds) and Reise (12 points, three rebounds) also played well.

Freshman Kevin Conrad (Buena Park HS) contributed 13 points, while sophomore Chris Wyms (King-Drew HS/West Los Angeles CC) joined Reise off the bench and finished with 11 points, five rebounds and four assists. Sheldon Wright (18 points) and Glaster (15 points) paced the Cougars.

Photo by Daryl Peterson