If the Cerritos College men's basketball team wants to look as to why they lost a 68-66 decision to Chaffey College in the 4th Round of the Southern California Regional Playoffs, they need to look no farther than from the free throw line. The Falcons (19-11), the #8-seeded team in the playoffs, were poised for their second straight upset win, as they held a 13-point first half lead and were tied with less than a minute remaining against the #4-seeded Panthers (28-5). Three days earlier, Cerritos eliminated #1-seeded Antelope Valley and a win over Chaffey would have sent the team to the CCCAA State Championships, which are being held on the Falcon campus next weekend.

But their abysmal shooting from the free throw line in the second half (6-for-20), which included missing eight straight, led to their demise. Despite those struggles at the line, Cerritos still had two chances to come away with the win. Down 67-66 with 28.5 second left, the team was holding the ball in an attempt to take the final shot of the game.

Sophomore guard Victor Jones (Lakewood HS), who led the team with 17 points and added six rebounds and three assists, attempted to dribble along the baseline. But Chaffey collapsed on him and forced him out of bounds, turning the ball over with 5.8 seconds remaining. Julian Nicholas was quickly fouled on the inbound pass with 4.5 seconds left. After netting the first free throw, he missed the second and Cerritos fed the ball to sophomore guard Jordan Reise (Huntington Beach HS) for the final shot. On the night, Reise had connected on a pair of three-pointers, but his shot at the buzzer rattled off the side of the rim, ending the team's hopes.

Cerritos was running on all cylinders in the first half and led by as much as 36-23 with 3:27 left in the first half. But Chaffey scored 10 of the final 12 points of the half, with the Falcons unable to score in the final 2:41 of the first half. That scoring drought continued at the start of the second half, as the team went 2:40 before sophomore center Jarion Henry (Kimball, TX HS/Trinity Valley, TX CC) drained a three-pointer to tie the game at 41-41.

Chaffey opened up as much as a seven-point lead (57-50) with 9:49 remaining in the second half, as they turned to Adom Jacko, who led all scorers with 22 points. Cerritos out-rebounded the Panthers, 48-33, with Henry clearing the boards for 18 rebounds to go along with his 15 points and four assists. In one stretch, freshman Micah Winn (Crenshaw HS) scored seven straight points for the Falcons, who finally were able to tie the game with 58.6 seconds left on an offensive rebound and put-back by freshman forward Josh Bell (Long Beach Wilson HS).

Although they didn't score a basket in the final 5:26 of the game, the Panthers netted four free throws to account for their points, while the Falcons continued to languish from the charity stripe. Their 30% accuracy ultimately did them in and ended their season.

Photos by Daryl Peterson