The Cerritos College men's basketball team needed overtime, but they were able to defeat visiting Cuesta College, 71-67 in the second round of the CCCAA Southern California Regional Playoffs on Friday. The win advances the #8-seeded Falcons (18-10) to the third round, where they will play on Wednesday against the winner of the Antelope Valley-Long Beach City game, which is slated for Saturday night.

The #9-seeded Cougars (21-10) sent the game into overtime when Kyle Geer drove the baseline and scored with 7.5 seconds to tie the game at 61-61. After a Cerritos timeout, sophomore Micah Winn (Crenshaw HS) was able to get an open look on a three-pointer, but it didn't fall and five more minutes were required to get a winner.

In the extra peiod, sophomore Victor Jones (Lakewood HS) opened the scoring with a three-point play, as he was fouled by Brett Hartshorne. A Jones jumper with 1:58 left put the Falcons up, 68-64, while the Cougars had a chance to get to within two points, but Geer was only able to convert one of two free throws. With time running out, sophomore Jarion Henry (Kimball, TX HS/Trinity Valley, TX CC) calmly converted a pair of free throws with 29.7 seconds left to give Cerritos a three-point lead. 

Cuesta looked to Geer to try and tie the game with :11 seconds left, but his shot was off line and freshman Austin Pope (Burbank HS) pulled down the rebound and followed with one of two free throws to close out the scoring. In the overtime, the Cougars were just 2-of-9 from the field and shot just 37% on the night.

Poor first half shooting affected the Cougars, as they netted 9-for-32, but trailed only 32-23. The trio of Geer (13 points), Hartshorne (16 points) and Alex Igual (10 points) accounted for 30 of their 38 points in the second half. Oscar Pedroso, an All-State selection and the Western State Conference Player of the Year, was limited to 3-of-10 shooting on the night and had 11 points. Hartshorne also led Cuesta with 11 rebounds, although they were out-rebounded by Cerritos, 49-38.

Coming off the bench for the Falcons to provide quality minutes were freshman forward Josh Bell (Long Beach Wilson HS) and sophomore guard Kevin Conrad (Buena Park HS), who each combined great defense and timely scoring. Bell, who played 18 minutes, was 4-for-4 from the field for eight points and brought down six rebounds, while Conrad used his 21 minutes to play solid defense and added a key three-pointer in the second half.

Jones led Cerritos with 15 points, while Henry contributed a great all-around game with 13 points, eight rebounds and six assists. As for Pope, he scored 10 of his 13 points in the first half, with Winn (nine points) and sophomore TJ Traylor (Dominguez HS), who produced seven points and nine rebounds, also playing well.

Photos by Daryl Peterson