Taking on El Camino College in the third place game of the South Coast Conference Tournament on Saturday, the Cerritos College men's water polo team posted a 16-6 win. Next up for the Falcons (21-12) is to wait and see if they are one of the 10 teams selected to compete in the Southern California Regional Playoffs, which will take place next weekend at Southwestern College.

Leading only 3-2 at the end of the first period and tied at 5-5 midway through the second period, the Falcons scored the final four goals of the half to take a 9-5 advantage into intermission. Sophomore Max Lucero (Whittier HS) scored the first of those two goals, with Julian Almanza (St. John Bosco HS) and Christian Acosta (Schurr HS) also finding the back of the net before halftime.

Riding that momentum, Cerritos came out in the third period and shut out the Warriors, 3-0 to extend their lead to 12-5 with eight minutes remaining. Acosta scored the first two of those goals, while Lucero added another goal. Goals from Acosta, Isaiah Wright (Whittier HS) and Guillermo De La Mora (La Serna HS) provided goals in the fourth period to close out the scoring in the win.

Acosta led the team with six goals on seven shots, while Lucero added three goals and two others had a pair. Wright assisted on six of the Falcons goals and posted four steals, while Almanza led the team with five steals. In goal. Aiden Parra (California HS) played into the fourth period and made eight saves, while Tripp Johnson (Kennedy HS) came on and turned away three shots.