In their 2022-23 season opener, the Cerritos College men's basketball team held off visiting Santa Monica College, 81-71 on Tuesday. The Falcons (1-0) will open the Irvine Valley Classic a week from Thursday when they opened against Ventura College in a 5:00 p.m. game.

Against the Corsairs (0-1), Cerritos opened an early 25-14 lead, thanks to the hot shooting of sophomore forward Jonathan Salazar (St. John Bosco HS/New Mexico Military CC), who accounted for 13 of those points, which included a trio of three-pointers. Each time it looked like the Falcons were going to extend their lead, Santa Monica came right back to get themselves in the game.

Taking a 36-31 lead into halftime, Cerritos never trailed in the game, but saw their 41-31 advantage become a 44-40 game, thanks in part to four free throws from the Corsairs Daniel Akitoby. The lead lingered around five points until a pair of Gorden Boykins (St. Anthony HS) free throws and a layup from Salazar put Cerritos up 52-44. It was a 55-53 game when Quinn Collins scored on a tip-in with 10:51 remaining in the second half.

Freshman Gary Williams (Dominguez HS) followed with a three-pointer and a layup for the Falcons to increase their advantage to 60-53. Santa Monica hovered within four points for the next few minutes until sophomore Jalen Shores (Lakewood HS) drained a three-pointer with 6:05 left to make it a 68-61 Cerritos lead. In the final three minutes, it was a 71-68 game before Boykins drove the lane and scored for a five-point advantage and then repeated the feat to put the Falcons in a comfortable 75-68 lead. The Falcons closed out the win by netting 6-of-7 free throws in the final minute.

Salazar, who had a double-double by halftime, led the team with 23 points and 14 rebounds, with Shores adding 19 points on 6-of-8 shooting. Boykins produced 14 points, three rebounds and three assists, while Williams added eight points and three rebounds off the bench.

Photos by Daryl Peterson