Clinging to an 84-82 lead over host Chaffey College in their season-opener, the Cerritos College men's basketball team ended up dropping an 85-84 decision on Friday night. The Falcons (0-1) were looking for their first win over the Panthers since a 75-63 win in the opening round of the Saddleback Tournament on November 11, 2000. The loss was the seventh in a row to Chaffey. Cerritos (0-1) will now enter the Irvine Valley Classic next Thursday at 7:00 p.m. and face the host Lasers.

After the Panthers Avery Garcia knocked down a three-pointer with 11 seconds remaining, the Falcons had two last-second shots to pull out the win, but sophomore Kamaury Washington (Long Beach Millikan HS/Santa Ana College) and Elijah Gelin (Winward HS) were both turned away.

The game saw 16 lead changes, while the score was tied nine times in a playoff atmosphere game to start the season.

Cerritos opened up a 41-33 lead late in the first half after Dylan Davis (Inglewood College Prep HS) knocked down a three-pointer. After The Panthers started to close the gap, the Falcons had a late run to end the half, with Davis returning the nine-point advantage (45-36) at halftime.

Leading 49-44 with 17:31 left in the game, the Falcons saw Chaffey go on an 8-0 run over the next three minutes to re-take the lead. The lead went back and forth the remainder of the game until the late three-pointer by the Panthers proved to be the game-winning basket.

Freshman Isaac Jowell (Dominguez HS) led the team with 21 points and 18 rebounds, while Gelin finished with 16 points and eight boards. Cerritos out-rebounded Chaffey, 53-33, but 22 turnovers resulted into 19 Chaffey points. Sophomore Dorian Tate (St. Paul HS/Rio Hondo College) recorded 19 points and seven rebounds, with sophomore David Mack (St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy HS/Northern Illinois University) finishing with 10 points, four rebounds and four assists.