It was slow going for the Cerritos College men's basketball team in their home opener against Cypress College on Wednesday night. The Falcons, who missed their first three shots and turned the ball over twice, needed a little over two minutes to finally get on the scoreboard. Fortunately, the Chargers were having the same issues, as Cerritos turned an early 2-0 deficit into an 11-2 lead with 12:35 left on their way to a 74-46 win. Winners of four in a row (4-1), Cerritos will now travel to Allan Hancock College next Wednesday for a 5:00 p.m. game.

The offense started to turn things around when freshman Elijah Gelin (Winward HS) came off the bench to knock down a three-pointer and then followed with a jumper. Sophomore Kamaury Washington (Long Beach Millikan HS/Santa Ana College) then knocked down another three-pointer and the Falcons were off to the races.

Midway through the first half, it was a 20-4 Cerritos lead with multiple players making early contributions. Freshman Daryl Holt (St. John Bosco HS) and Gelin each drained long distance jumpers on consecutive possessions to open a 26-7 advantage, with Gelin making it a 21-point (28-7) lead with five minutes remaining in the first half.

Coming out of the first half leading 35-13 after the Falcons went on to shoot 53.8% from the field, sophomore Blake Brewer (Orange Lutheran HS), Holt and sophomore Dorian Tate (St. Paul HS/Rio Hondo College) each scored after the Chargers either missed a shot or turned the ball over to make it a 41-17 advantage less than two minutes into the second half. The lead would swell to 50-18 after another Gelin three-pointer and a Washington short jumper. Sophomore David Mack (St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy HS/Northern Illinois University) converted a pair of free throws for the largest lead of the game at 54-18 with 12:54 left on the clock.

By the end of the game, Washington had a season-high 19 points to go with six rebounds, with Tate posting a double-double with his 12 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and two blocked shots. Gelin played 19 minutes off the bench and recorded 13 points, while Mack provided six points, three rebounds and three assists off the bench. Sophomore Jaysen Owens (Narbonne HS) added eight points and two rebounds, with freshman Isaac Sowell (Dominguez HS) hauling in six rebounds.

Photos by Daryl Peterson