Freshman guard Blake Brewer (Orange Lutheran HS) was a game-time decision on whether he would play against host East Los Angeles College on Wednesday night. Fittingly, it was Brewer's three-pointer with 19 seconds remaining that turned out to be the game-winning basket, as the Cerritos College men's basketball team escaped with a 77-76 win over the Huskies. It snapped a five-game losing streak against the Huskies dating back to 2019. Winners of three in a row, Cerritos (3-2) will travel to Cypress College on Friday for a 6:00 p.m. game.

Trailing 63-55 with 7:35 left in the fourth quarter, the Falcons slowly worked their way back within striking distance. Consecutive baskets from sophomore guard Darron Henry (Long Beach Poly HS) got the team to within 63-59, while another jumper with 5:14 left closed the score to 65-62 in favor of the Huskies.

The teams traded baskets for the next few minutes until Henry drilled a key three-pointer with 2:59 left to make it a one-point game (70-69). The Falcons finally took the lead after sophomore center Spencer Ezewiro (Paramount HS/Moberly Area, MO CC) converted three-of four free throws to make it a 74-72 Cerritos lead.

East LA tied the game at 74-74 with 37 seconds left, which set the stage for Brewer's heroics. Henry pushed the ball up the floor and found Brewer, who scored 14 points off the bench, and he knocked down the three-pointer. The Falcons called timeout to set up their defense. The Huskies Donjae Lindsey converted a lay-up with 10 seconds left. Fouling Brewer on the inbound pass, he missed both free throws, which would have restored a three-point lead. The Huskies got off a shot at the buzzer by Denton Latimore, but it was off-line.

Henry (seven assists) and sophomore Marcel Hayes (Long Beach Poly HS) led the Falcons with 18 points each, with Brewer netting 6-of-8 shots on the night. Sophomore forward Andrew Mata (Schurr HS/Holy Cross, IN College) contributed 12 points, while Ezewiro finished with nine points and four rebounds.