It was a brief second half lead, but the Cerritos College men's basketball team came out in the second half firing on all cylinders. However, after taking a 41-37 lead against Mt. San Antonio College at The Aviary on Friday night, the Falcons (8-13) committed 12 turnovers that allowed the Mounties to go on a 17-2 run on their way to a 70-59 setback. Cerritos will now travel to Los Angeles Trade-Tech on Wednesday for a 7:00 p.m. game.

Freshman Jay Merriweather (Temescal Canyon HS) hit a pair of three-pointers to start the second half, while sophomore Micah Winn (Crenshaw HS) netted one. When sophomore Jeff Gonzalez (Riverside Poly HS/Riverside City College) drained a trey with 15:31 left in the second half, it was a 41-37 Falcon lead, their first of the game and largest of the night.

A multitude of poor passes led to the Mounties (19-1) not only regaining the lead, but watched it swell to 12 points (61-49) with 6:12 remaining. Mt. SAC's Malcom Whittington was the main culprit on the night, scoring 17 of his game-high 21 points in the second half.

Merriweather ended the game with 14 points, while Gonzalez concluded with 10 points. As a team, Cerritos finished with 21 turnovers, with more than half of them coming after they took their first lead of the game. Freshman Earl Morgan (Dominguez HS) had seven points off the bench, while sophomore Josh Bell (Long Beach Wilson HS) was held scoreless, but did lead the team with seven rebounds. Taking his place in the starting lineup, freshman Jamal Watson (Lakewood HS) posted four points and six rebounds before fouling out.

Photos by Daryl Peterson