A second half offensive surge powered the Cerritos College men's basketball team to an 88-85 South Coast Conference win over visiting Los Angeles Trade-Tech College of Friday night. The Falcons (12-8, 5-1), who trailed, 42-28 late in the first half, responded with 55 second half points to register the win over the Beavers (10-11, 2-4). The team will now travel to Pasadena City College for a 5:00 p.m. conference game on Wednesday.

LA Trade-Tech worked the ball inside for the majority of the game, and relied on the scoring of Andre Harris, who led all scorers with 29 points. But the Falcons responded by pushing the tempo in the second part of the final 20 minutes, and their transition game resulted on a surge that pulled the team ahead with 5:31 remaining on a three-pointer from sophomore guard Jordan Reise (Huntington Beach HS).

The Falcon inside game received a boost with the tandem of sophomores TJ Traylor (Dominguez HS) and Jarion Henry (Kimball, TX HS/Trinity Valley, TX CC), who scored eight straight points in the latter stages of the game to secure the victory. LATT hit a late three-pointer to close the final score to three points.

Five players scored in double-figures for the Falcons, with Henry leading with way with 20 points, 16 rebounds and four assists. He was joined by freshman guard Micah Winn (Crenshaw HS), who accounted for 16 points. The trio of Traylor, sophomore guard Victor Jones (Lakewood HS) and Austin Pope (Burbank HS) all added 10 points in the win. On the night, Cerritos out-rebounded the Beavers, 51-41, with 20 of them coming on the offensive end.

Photos by Daryl Peterson