In an battle of unbeaten teams early in the season, the Cerritos College men's basketball team came away with a 56-51 home win over Citrus College on Wednesday night. The Falcons (4-0) were were ranked #5 in Southern California in the pre-season, pulled away from the #3-ranked Owls (3-1), thanks to a second half run. It was the first win for Cerritos over Citrus since 1999. The Falcons will host Allan Hancock College at 5:00 p.m next Wednesday.

Trailing by as many as nine points (41-32) in the second half, the Falcons used their pressure defense to help them get back into the game. Consecutive baskets from freshman Taeo Thomas (Verbum Dei HS) and sophomore Gorden Boykins (St. Anthony HS) off a turnover brought the team back to within 41-36. Boykins followed with another layup on a transition after a missed Owls shot gave the Falcons a 6-0 run to make it 41-38 with 9:29 remaining. It would be 2:30 before either team would score again, as sophomore Jonathan Salazar (St. John Bosco HS/New Mexico Military Institute CC) converted one of two free throws.

A three-pointer from Thomas with 5:40 left made it a 43-42 game, with sophomore Jalen Shores (Lakewood HS) tying the game at 44-44 when he made two free throws. Another Owls turnover resulted in Boykins finishing off another fast break to put the Falcons in front, 46-45 with 3:34 remaining.

Over a 10-minute period, Citrus was outscored, 21-4, which included two more Shores free throws, a driving layup from Boykins and a three-pointer from freshman Everett May (Los Alamitos HS), which made it a 53-44 game with 1:54 remaining.

Boykins accounted for 14 points, seven rebounds and three steals off the bench, with Thomas adding 11 points and five rebounds. Salazar was limited to 10 points, but led the way with 13 rebounds, with Shores (six steals) and sophomore Dennis Johnson (Compton HS) each scoring seven points in the win.

Photos by Daryl Peterson