Playing twice at the Irvine Valley Tournament, the Cerritos College men's basketball team split their two games. On the first day, the Falcons (3-1) came up short in their comeback attempt College of the Canyons, 71-67 and followed that with a 54-46 win over the host Lasers on Friday. Next up for Cerritos will be a non-conference game at Citrus College at 5:00 p.m. next Friday.

In the game against the Cougars, the Falcons trailed 38-29 at halftime, but scored the first four points of the second half on free throws. But after falling behind by nine points, consecutive layups from sophomores Joshua Belvin (St. Anthony HS), Jaishon Forte (Rancho Verde HS) and Andre Fields (Warren HS) drew the team to within 44-41. Belvin would go on to earn All-Tournament recognition.

Once again, Canyons countered with a run of their own and led by as 52-41 with 11:11 remaining. Consecutive three-pointers from Forte and sophomore Dorian Harris (Cerritos HS) brought the Falcons back to within 54-51 with 9:07 left. A Harris three-pointer with 7:46 left on the clock completed the team's comeback, as they took a 58-56 lead. The Cougars regained the lead (63-62) after a pair of free throws from King Miller with 4:47 left.

Fields followed with a three-point play, and after Belvin made a lay-up, the Falcons held their biggest lead of the game at 67-63 with 2:55 remaining. Cold shooting (0-for-5) and a pair of turnovers prevented Cerritos from scoring the rest of the game, while Canyons scored the game-final eight points to post the win.

Belvin led the team with 21 points off the bench, while Forte added 12 points and a team-high six rebounds. Harris (nine points, four rebounds) and Fields (seven points) added scoring off the bench, while the Falcons were out-rebounded in the game, 45-32.

Taking on the host Lasers (1-2), both teams struggled to get any kind of offensive momentum going, which was displayed by their shooting percentage and 38 combined turnovers. The Falcons did hold a 34-26 lead at intermission, as Belvin led the way with nine points.

Cerritos took an early 10-point lead in the second half after a Fields basket, while a three-pointer from freshman Garrett Bell (Sonora HS) gave the team their largest lead of the night at 47-35 with 10:41 remaining. 

Belvin led the Falcons with 14 points, while Fields finished with nine points and seven caroms. Although he was kept off the scoreboard, freshman Jalen Shores (Lakewood HS) recorded five steals, with freshman Malik Johnson (Compton HS) contributing six points.