After winning their first seven South Coast Conference games, the Cerritos College men's basketball team suffered an 80-66 loss to #4-ranked Mt. San Antonio College at The Aviary on Friday. The Falcons still lead the South Division with five games remaining, but must play their next three contest on the road. They will travel to Los Angeles Trade-Tech College on Wednesday for a 6:00 p.m. game.

One of the factors in the loss to the Mounties (20-2, 7-1), who are also ranked #2 in Southern California, were the 18 turnovers that resulted in 24 points. Cerritos was victimized by numerous entry passes that were picked off and Mt. SAC converted them into fast break points.

In the first half the Falcons (13-8, 7-1) were able to stay close, and after a pair of three-pointers by freshman Jordan Reise (Huntington Beach HS), including one with 3.3 seconds left in the first half, the team trailed only 33-32 at intermission.

Bue the Mounites opened the second half by outscoring Cerritos, 21-2 and put the game out of reach. The Falcons were able to close their deficit to just 13 points (56-43) with 11:10 remaining after an offensive rebound basket by freshman Kevin Conrad (Buena Park HS). But Mt. SAC went on another run and pushed their advantage back to 21 points (67-46) in the next three minutes.

Sophomore Anthony Holliday (Norwalk HS) struggled from the field (5-for-12), but led the team with 16 points, with sophomore David Hall (Lynwood HS/Yavapai (AZ) CC) contributing 13 points, eight rebounds and three steals off the bench. The duo of Conrad (six rebounds) and Reise each scored 12 points in the loss. For Mt. SAC, Corey Allen (19 points, six assists, five steals), Gareett Nevels (15 points, eight rebounds) were their offensive leaders, while Hakeem Nance and Christian May both added nine points.

Photo by Daryl Peterson