Falcons hand #1-seed 77-75 loss

By John Van Gaston, Cerritos College Sports Information

The Cerritos College men's basketball team, seeded #8, defeated #1-seeded Antelope Valley College, 77-75 on Wednesday to advance to the 4th Round of the Southern California Regional Playoffs. With the win, the Falcons (19-10) will travel to Chaffey College, the #4-seeded team on Saturday for a 7:00 p.m. game. The Panthers moved on with their 79-71 win over Pasadena City College. With one more win, Cerritos will qualify for the CCCAA State Championships, which will be held at The Aviary.

Trailing by as many as 12 points in the first half, the Falcons slowly worked their way back in the game and were behind only 35-33 at intermission. Swarming defense and timely shooting put the team up, 64-56 with 7:38 left in the second half. But the Marauders (27-5) went on a 13-1 run to open up a 69-65 advantage with 2:24 left in the second half. Antelope Valley received a three-pointer from Ismael Ali to break a 65-65 tie.

But Cerritos received great bench support from freshman forward Josh Bell (Long Beach Wilson HS) and sophomore guard Kevin Conrad (Buena Park HS). In the second half, Conrad scored 12 of his 13 points, which included a three-pointer and going 5-for-5 from the free throw line. His three-point play with 8:26 was a key play which helped the team open a six-point lead. As for Bell, he played aggressive defense, and added consecutive baskets to turn a one-point deficit into a 71-68 lead with 2:41 left. His second basket came on a rebound of his missed free throw and follow up layup.

Sophomore Jarion Henry (Kimball, TX HS/Trinity Valley, TX CC) backed his way inside and scored with 17.4 seconds left for a 77-73 lead, which secured the victory. Antelope Valley responded with a basket and after freshman Micah Winn(Crenshaw HS) missed a pair of free throws, the Marauders had one last chance to send the game into overtime. But Ali missed on his outside jumper and Bell pulled down the rebound that keeps Cerritos alive in the playoffs.

Henry led all scorers with 21 points, while sophomore guard Victor Jones (Lakewood HS) contributed 15 points to go along with 13 points for Conrad. Sophomores TJ Traylor (Dominguez HS) and Jordan Reise (Huntington Beach HS) each added nine points, with Reise providing his points off the bench. 

http://cerritosfalcons.com/sports/mbkb/2013-14/releases/201403063r9afs