The Falcons (15-7) hosted rival Long Beach City College (12-10) on Friday at 7 p.m. in a back-and-forth game where the Falcons came out with a win 66-61, breaking their two-game losing streak.
At the start of the game, the Falcons got off to a quick start but LBCC was quick to follow with the Falcons leading narrowly at the half by a score of 29-26.
What helped Cerritos get a first-half lead was by playing aggressively and creating fouls, which got them to the free throw line where they made 5-6 (83.3%) compared to LBCC 1-2 (50%) from the line.
In the second half, both teams were trading shot for shot in a hard-fought battle but when the clock struck zero, the Falcons would end up winning with two clutch free throws to ice the game by Jalen Shores (No.5) Soph Guard.
Shot selections improved drastically for the Falcons going 12-29 (41.4%) from the field in the first half to 14-26 (53.8%) in the second and Head Coach Russ May agreed to say it was much better.
After breaking a two-game losing streak Head Coach Russ May said, “It feels great, especially against your rival.”
“We needed that win, we lost a couple of tough ones and I think for our confidence it’s very important so I’m proud of the guys today,” May added.
What drastically helped the Falcons get the win was destroying their opponent in the rebound battle in the second half 19-9 with most of them coming from the defensive side preventing second-chance opportunities.
Sophomore Guard Jalen Shores (No.5) said, “We played with very good pace, I feel like we shared the ball, we got the ball side to side and got into the paint.”
One area the Falcons might need to clean up is their turnovers, they had 13 turnovers in the second half and that can come and bite them in future games when the game is on the line.
Another area that Taeo Thomas (No.10) Frosh guard thought the team can improve on is, “Definitely free throws, we missed too many free throws. That’s why in practice we make sure we take more free throws and take our time and focus.”
One improvement everyone on the team seems to agree on is bringing a higher energy level into their next game especially facing a tough opponent in their next game.
Head Coach Russ May said he hopes to see more energy and more confidence in their next game against El Camino.
Taeo Thomas (No.10) Frosh guard also spoke on how he plans to transfer the success he had in this game to the next game playing at El Camino.
“What I’m going to try and do is continue to attack the basket because that’s where I get more opportunities for my teammates even when I miss,” Thomas said.
The Falcons will try to ride this momentum into their next conference game at El Camino playing on Wednesday, Feb. 1st.
