In the majority of their losses this season, the Cerritos College men's basketball team has allowed more points in the paint than they've been able to score. In their 81-67 loss to visiting East Los Angeles College on Wednesday night, the Falcons (8-12) allowed 34 points in the paint, while the Huskies (11-8) complimented that with eight three-pointers. Cerritos will look to snap their two-game losing streak with a 7:00 p.m. game against visiting Mt. San Antonio College on Friday.

A three-pointer from freshman Earl Morgan (Dominguez HS) gave Cerritos a 44-42 lead with 14:20 left in the second half and sophomore Josh Bell (Long Beach Wilson HS) netted a free throw to make it a 48-48 game with 11:42 remaining. But East Los Angeles scored the next 12 points over a 2:10 span to take a double-digit lead they would not relinquish.

In addition to Bell's 17 points and nine rebounds, sophomore Jeff Gonzalez (Riverside Poly HS/Riverside City College) scored 15 points, with seven rebounds and four assists for the Falcons. Bell was effective on the inside with his power moves, while Gonzalez scored 10 of his points from the free throw line. Sophomore Micah Winn (Crenshaw HS) returned to the lineup and netted 16 points, with freshman Jay Merriweather (Temescal Canyon HS) adding 11 points.

Cerritos received just six points off the bench - all from Morgan - wile the Huskies got 18 points off the bench from Richard Bivens to lead them. Marcus Romain also scored 18 points for ELAC, who out-rebounded the Falcons, 40-28.

Photos by Daryl Peterson