The Cerritos College men's basketball team picked up a pair of wins to advance to the finals of the Grossmont Tournament, but fell to the host Griffins, 76-68. The Falcons (4-4) will now host Glendale College in a non-conference game at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. The team opened with a 74-61 win over Southwestern College and then defeated College of the Desert, 76-72 to reach the finals of the tournament.

Cerritos vs. Southwestern: The Falcons broke open a close 26-25 first half lead when sophomore TJ Traylor (Dominguez HS) netted consecutive three-pointers to put the team up by seven points late in the half. They trailed 56-55 with 8:44 left after a trey from the Jaguars Devin Portis, but a bucket by sophomore Jordan Reise (Huntington Beach HS) and a three-point play from sophomore Kevin Conrad (Buena Park HS) put the team on top for good. Taylor led all scorers with 17 points off the bench, with freshman Austin Pope (Burbank HS) accounting for 14 points and six rebounds, while Conrad added 12 points. Freshman Josh Bell (Long Beach Wilson HS) pulled down a team-high eight rebounds, with the duo of Reise and freshman Micah Winn (Crenshaw HS) both scoring seven points each off the bench.

Cerritos vs. College of the Desert: Holding a double-digit lead in the second half, Cerritos was abe to hold off the Roadrunners in the final few minutes of the game. After Conrad drained a three-pointer with 4:21 left to put the team up 71-62, the Falcons struggled to score the rest of the way, as they got off just four shots the remainder of the game and made one of them. Desert went 3-for-6 the final four minutes and hit all four free throws to stay within striking distance. Conrad led the team with 15 points and added six rebounds, with Reise (14 points) and freshman Anthony January (Taft HS), with 12 points and four rebounds, making contributions off the bench. Cerritos out-rebounded the Roadrunners, 45-37, as three starters shared the team lead with six, while Mike Karimu led Desert with 25 points and 12 rebounds.

Cerritos vs. Grossmont: In the championship game, the Griffins went up 31-13 in the first half, but a second half run from the Falcons made the game close. Down by 17 points (70-53) with 2:41 left, freshman Usama Zaid (Taft HS) scored six points down the stretch, with Jarion Henry (Kimball, TX HS/Trinity Valley (TX) CC) hitting a pair of buckets. But it wasn't enough, with Cerritos suffering the loss. Reise was the only player to score in double-figures with 14 points, while the trio of Bell, Pope and Henry all adding nine points each.