Jonathan Brown’s go-ahead jumper with only three seconds left, and the Falcons lost their final game of the season by a score of, 68-67, to Long Beach City on Wednesday, Feb. 18.
Both teams battled it out from start to finish.
Falcons were showing great defense, blocking many shots and rounding any chance they could get.
It played into their favor because the Vikings kept fouling players.
Falcons forward Josh Bell made most of the points in the first half. Making the score tied at 28-28.
In the second half of the game, LBCC took a 14-point lead 46-32 after a three-point play.
A couple of three-pointers from Falcons guard Jay Merriweather helped the Falcons come back.
Cerritos had taken the lead by a score of 57-56.
It was a tied game at 63-63, after a couple of free throws by Falcons guard Micah Winn.
With only two minutes left in the game, Winn tied it up again at 65-65 on a layup.
As time ran out, Falcons head coach Russ May called a time-out with only three seconds on the clock.
The play drawn up during the timeout didn’t go as planned and Falcons guard Jonathan Brown saw his jumper miss with only three seconds left, and the Falcons lost their final game of the season by a score of 68-67.
The game didn’t turn out as planned, but May was proud of his team even with the multiple injuries his players had acquired this season.
“Well, the season didn’t end the way we wanted to, but I am proud of these guys, how they played and what they have done,” said May. “But we just didn’t make good free-throws tonight.”
He added, “It’s been a rocky road with all the injuries and changes in the lineup. And it’s really been hard because I’ve never experienced that as a coach. But we’ll be back, we’ll be back strong next year.”
Forward Josh Bell felt like this game was bitter-sweet, “There’s a lot of emotions right now, because I can’t say I am happy or sad. I am just grateful that my guys gave it a great effort today. That’s all we wanted win, lose, or draw. That’s all our coach (May) wanted us to do, leave it all on the floor since this was our last game. We just wanted to come out here and play hard.”
Winn was a little disappointed by how he let his team down saying, “I know I could have played so much better. I missed a couple of easy layups and missed some free-throws, but those are things that I can work hard on everyday.”
“But for right now I’m going to take a bow for two to three days off and get back in the gym and go harder.”
Winn also spoke highly of his team mates, “They didn’t let their emotions get the best of them. They were able to execute to best of their ability.”
He added, “This is not the last you see of Micah Winn, I am going to come back next year. People are going to hear about me. I’m going to be somewhere on ESPN.”
This (Cerritos College) has one of the best basketball programs. Any kid who is looking to get recruited should come here (Cerritos College) to help them become a better player. This is not the last time you’ll hear from me though,” said Winn.
