The Cerritos College men's basketball team saw their season come to an end on Saturday after a 79-67 loss to Fullerton College in the 2nd Round of the Southern California Regional Playoffs. The Falcons, seeded #16, conclude their season with a 20-10 mark, while the #1-seeded Hornets advance to the 3rd Round. Cerritos was looking for their first win over Fullerton since a 74-65 victory on November 12, 2010 and extended their losing streak to four games against the Hornets. The loss also snapped the Falcons 13-game winning streak.

It was a back and forth game through the first 20 minutes, with the lead changing hands a dozen times. Fullerton took a slim 36-34 lead into intermission, but came out in the second half and started to put some distance between themselves and the Falcons.

Early in the second half it was 36-35 until Fullerton would go on to score the next eight points of the game. A three-pointer from freshman Darron Henry (Long Beach Poly HS) pulled the team to within 46-40 with 14:40 remaining, while a three-point play from Henry put Cerritos down, 47-43. Another seven-point run by the Hornets pulled them ahead, 54-43 with 11:02 left on the clock. Cerritos would get no closer than six points the remainder of the game.

On the night, the Falcons struggled with their outside shooting, as they netted just 6-of-21 three-pointers, with the Hornets also getting Cerritos in foul trouble. They capitalized on their free throw shooting opportunities and connected on 22-of-38 attempts, while the Falcons had just 18 free throw attempts on the night.

Freshman Dillon Botts (Mayfair HS) led the team with 15 points to go along with three rebounds and two assists, while sophomore forward Eric Clark (Cerritos HS) posted 14 points and seven rebounds before fouling out. Henry finished with 11 points and six assists, while sophomore forward Cameron McCoy (Taft HS) pulled down a team-high nine rebounds to go with his nine points. Sophomore Taeo Thomas (Verbum Dei HS) added eight points, six rebounds and three assists, with freshman Marcel Hayes (Long Beach Poly HS) recording seven points and six assists.

Photos courtesy of Jim McCormack