In a game that went back and forth the entire night, the Cerritos College men's basketball team came away with a 71-65 South Coast Conference South Division win over host Long Beach City College on Wednesday night. With the win, the Falcons (18-9, 6-3) have locked sole possession of second place in the division with one regular season game remaining. The team will host El Camino College 7:00 p.m. on Friday.

The game was highlighted by 14 ties and 15 lead changes, with the Vikings leading as late as 1:49 remaining in the second half after Lorenzo Marsh converted a pair of free throws. But on the next Cerritos possession, sophomore guard Jalen Shores (Lakewood HS), who led the team with 21 points, drained a three-pointer for a 67-65 lead with 1:39 remaining. Rebounding a missed LB City shot on the next trip down the court, sophomore Gorden Boykins (St. Anthony HS) capped off the possession with a layup for 69-65 advantage with less than a minute left on the clock. A pair of missed Vikings shots resulted in Boykins closing out the game by converting a pair of free throws.

The teams traded the lead throughout the game, with no team leading by more than six points.

Cerritos was led in the first half by freshman Christian Bennett (Redondo Union HS), who connected on a trio of three-pointers and finished with five in the game to account for his 15 points. Shores, who had three buckets from long distance of his own, netted 7-of-12 field goals, with the team shooting better from three-point range (50%) than their overall field goal percentage (41.4%).

Coming off the bench, the Falcons also received eight points and a team-high 13 rebounds from freshman forward Cameron McCoy (Taft HS) after sophomore Justin Stephens (Gahr HS) slipped into foul trouble. Playing another stellar all-around game, Boykins produced six points, seven rebounds and five assists in the win.