The Cerritos College men’s basketball team (12-7) defeated the Pasadena City College Lancers (7-12) 95-85 in the newly renovated Falcon Gymnasium picking up its sixth straight conference win Friday night.

After spending two seasons playing home games on different sites, the Falcons finally got to return to Cerritos College on Friday night to host a home game on their own turf.

Freshman guard Kevin Conrad led all scorers with 21 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals while sophomore power forward Marquise Washington, had a big game of his own with 18 points, 14 rebounds, four assists and one block.

Cerritos College, who had a 21- point advantage in the second half, saw its lead cut down to as little as five points with 1:55 left in the game.

Poor decision making by the Lancers late in the game helped the Falcons hold on to the win.

“We did a real good job on (defending) their three-point shooters and passed the ball well. By breaking their press we got some easy buckets,” said head coach Russ May.

Conrad feels that teamwork was a big key to the victory against the Lancers.

“(Good) passes, team work, and strong finishes by the whole team helped us,” he said.

Sophomore point guard Chris Wyms gives a lot of credit to playing hard on the defensive side.

“We just have to play (a good game of) defensive rebounding and play hard,” he said.

Wyms also added that free throws are one of the team’s weaknesses and feels confident the team will be able to fix the problem.

“The coaches will fix it for us, we’ll be shooting a lot of free throws.”

While the Falcons might have taken the win, May is glad to have finally got the gym opener out of the way.

“I’m glad it’s over. Now we can just relax a little bit. Opening up a new building is a little stressful.”

The Falcons are now 6-0 and sit atop the South Coast Conference with Mt. San Antonio College keeping pace with a 5-1 conference record.

“(We have to) take it game by game. Just practice hard, it all starts with practice,” Conrad said.

The men’s basketball team will now travel to face El Camino-Compton Center College (8-9) on Wednesday.

El Camino-Compton Center College will look to get back in the win column as it comes off a loss against Los Angeles Harbor College.

“(The warriors are) a new challenge. They play fast; they’re a dangerous team. They can definitely score in bunches but I think our team is definitely focused on something bigger,” May said about the upcoming match up.

Tip off is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Wednesday.