Complete Bracket

Riding a seven-game winning streak, the Cerritos College men's basketball team has been seeded #10 for the Southern California Regional Playoffs. The Falcons (21-6), the second place finishers in the South Coast Conference South Division, will travel to take on #6-seeded Citrus College at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The Owls (23-6) are the co-champions of the Western State Conference East Division and dropped their final game of the regular season to Barstow College to finish in the tie.

The winner will face #3-seeded Saddleback College, or the winner of the #13-Antelope Valley vs. #19-seeded Santa Monica game, as they will take on each other Wednesday in the first round.

This is the fourth time in the seven seasons Russ May has been the head coach that he's led the Falcons to the post-season, while Citrus will be making their 11th straight playoff appearance. This marks the first time the teams have met since the 1998-99 season when Cerritos earned an 87-62 win on their way to the CCCAA State Championship. The Falcons have not won a state title since that year. It will also be the first post-season appearances between these two teams since the 1990-91 season when Cerritos handed the Owls a 74-62 setback.

Cerritos is led by committee, as four players are averaging in double-figures, with sophomore Cristian Perez (Santa Fe HS) averaging a team-leading 13.0 points and 6.7 rebounds a game. Sophomore Brian Nebo (St. John Bosco HS) accounts for 12.3 points and 5.3 rebounds a game, with freshman Dezmon Murphy (La Mirada HS) records 10.3 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. Sophomore Salvador Carlos (Downey HS/Biola University), who has missed three of the last four games, posts 10.0 points a 4.0 rebounds a game. Sophomore Tyler Payne (La Mirada HS) leads the team with 3.7 assists a game to go along with his 8.1 points a game.

As for the Owls, they have been led by Jeremy Smith (15.4 points, 4.2 assists), Kenneth Cyprian (12.4 points, Khalil Williams (9.9 points, 5.4 rebounds) and Tyler LaCour (9.6 points). Calvin Martin leads Citrus with an 8.4 rebounding average, while Cyprian has drained 70 three-pointers.

The teams have faced nine common opponents this season, with Cerritos posting a combined 10-3 record, while Citrus is 8-2.

Tip-off will be at 7:00 PM on Friday night. Admission will be charged as it is mandated by the California Community College Athletic Association. Live stats will be provided by Citrus at http://www.citrusowls.com/sports/mbkb/2016-17/boxscores/20170224_uu9z.xml.