After a bit of a slow start by the Falcons and some hot shooting from LBCC guard Randolph White, Cerritos kicked its game into a completely different gear and ran away with a big victory, 78-48.

The Falcons definitely made it a statement game, especially after coach Teplitzy called his first timeout.

After being down to the LBCC Vikings, caused by early turnovers and weak interior defense, the Falcons came out of that timeout an entirely different team.

They made a strong comeback early in the first half with great full court trapping defense, which really complimented the make up of the team.

The Falcons even became more assertive offensively with good hustle on both ends, rebounding by forward Marcellus Jackson and basket attacking by guard Jeremiah Barnes.

Both teams shot poorly from the field and that really took its toll mentally on the Vikings team but the Falcons stuck to their game plan and never let up, looking like a disciplined team who didn’t let their shooting percentages determine the outcome of the game.

As a matter of fact, the Falcons lead just continued to increase throughout the half and ended it with a 14-point margin.

The second half was an even slower offensive half for both teams, as no one could find their touch, and the Falcons held the Vikings leading scorers to a terrible and obviously frustrating night.

The frustration from the LBCC coaching staff as well as its players really showed with the numerous substitutions Coach Barry Barnes made throughout the game.

Trying to find any possible answers, the Vikings went to a little pressure defense of its own which backfired on them completely and complemented the Falcons team.

With the quickness, size, and athleticism of the Falcons guards, they broke the presses and traps easily, which lead to easy buckets down the stretch.

To add to their already high momentum, Marcellus Jackson stayed relentless with his rebounding 17 and running the floor for a few nice dunks to add to his point total of 17.

Jeremiah Barnes also contributed with an all around performance of three key steals which turned into his points to score 14 aggressive drives to the hoop either scoring or drawing the foul, great showtime passes, eight assists, and also rebounding eight.

The Falcons plan on making a strong run at winning conference and Friday night’s effort showed that they will be a team to be reckoned with.

The team bounced back big from its last game’s heartbreaking loss to El Camino with a 30-point win over Long Beach City College to put them at 2-1 in conference play.