Facing the state's top-ranked City College of San Francisco in the 3C2A State Quarterfinals at Mt. San Antonio College on Thursday afternoon, the Cerritos College men's basketball team saw their season come to an end with an 82-70 loss. The setback against the Rams (30-1) was the second time that the teams squared off in the state tournament, with the other coming during the 2017-18 season. The Falcons (23-9), who came in as the #4-seed from Southern California, dropped that game, we well.

San Francisco City came out shooting three-pointers and knocked down their first two, as Cerritos saw an 8-8 tie turn into a 20-10 deficit, which included two more long distance jumpers. Down, 23-12, the Falcons scored the next 11 points to tie the game at 23-23 with 5:31 left in the first half. Sophomore Dillon Botts (Mayfair HS) accounted for seven of those points, with sophomore Jordun Willard (Paramount HS) scoring the other four. Cerritos trailed 40-30 at intermission, as the Rams scored the final four points in the last 10 seconds of the half.

Just as they did in the first half, the Rams opened the second half with a three-pointer, while the Falcons pulled to within 53-45 after a three-pointer from sophomore Andrew Mata (Schurr HS/Holy Cross, IN College). They got only as close as 10 points twice the remainder of the game.

Henry led the team with 19 points and added five assists and three rebounds, with Botts accounting for 17 points and five rebounds. Hayes added 10 points, with sophomore Spencer Ezewiro (Paramount HS/Moberly Area, MO CC) finishing with six points and nine rebounds, while Mata scored all nine of his points from three-point range.

Photos by Daryl Peterson