The Cerritos College men’s basketball team’s losing streak continues in a rematch against its cross town rival Long Beach City College 67-65 last Friday.

Freshman guard Keith Wiltz led the team off the bench with 16 points, two assists, and one steal.

The score stayed close throughout the entire game, much different than when the Falcons lost to Long Beach 86-77 on Jan. 5.

Freshman guard Robert Gill, who scored 12 points, said, “The first game, they came out really aggressive. This game, they came at a slow pace and then started off aggressive in the second half.”

In less than four minutes in the first half, the Falcons and the Vikings were going back and forth on fast breaks.

Cerritos led 35-31 at halftime.

Vikings head coach Barry Barnes stated, “We didn’t play defense like we were supposed to in the first half. We came out [in the second half] and applied the full court pressure.”

LBCC’s aggressive defense help them take the lead. However, key personal fouls on Cerritos the Vikings take the led.

The game went down to the final seconds of the game.

With the game tied at 63, LBCC’s Stephen Heard made a layup with 30 seconds left in the game.

After exchanging possessions, LBCC came out with the victory 67-65.

Barnes thought his team played well in the second half of this rivalry game.

“Whether you finish first or finish last, you’ve got a bunch of guys from the neighborhood that just want to play each other,” he said.

“I’m a little upset, but we’re all freshman and were all learning,” Wiltz said.