Looking to continue their winning streak, the #10-ranked Cerritos College men's basketball team played a pair of games at the Citrus Tournament over the weekend. The Falcons opened with a 79-64 win over #9-ranked Santiago Canyon College and followed that with a 84-71 loss against the #4-ranked hosts Owls. Next up for Cerritos (6-2), who had their six-game winning streak snapped, will be the Santa Barbara City/El Camino Holiday tournament, with the team playing all three of their games in Torrance. They open with a 7:00 p.m. game on Thursday against Oxnard College.

Cerritos vs. Santiago Canyon: Trailing, 32-25 at intermission after shooting just 24% from the field, the Falcons scored the first six points of the second half to draw to within 32-31. A layup by sophomore Dorian Tate (St. Paul HS/Rio Hondo College) completed the comeback, as Cerritos took a 35-34 lead, with freshman Elijah Gelin (Winward HS) following with a dunk. Over a 3:02 period where the Hawks were held scoreless, Cerritos produced nine points. Freshman DJ Holt (St. John Bosco HS) extended the Falcons lead to 11 points (49-38) after his three-pointer, while the defense clamped down once again to open up their lead. It was another 9-0 run over the next five minutes to make it a 62-46 advantage. The lead would hold up for Cerritos, who posted the comfortable win.

Gelin led the team with 18 points off the bench, while also contributing six rebounds, three assists and three steals, while sophomore Kamaury Washington (Long Beach Millikan HS/Santa Ana College) finished with 17 points, five rebounds and three assists. Sophomore David Mack (St. Pius X-St. Matthias HS/Northern Illinois University) added 12 points, four rebounds and four assists, with Tate scoring 11 points and hauled in seven rebounds in the win.

Cerritos vs. Citrus: Facing the host Owls, the Falcons fell behind early, 9-2 before a three-pointer from Mack was viewed as the potential for an offensive run. However, Citrus scored nine straight points over the next 4:12 with Cerritos going 0-for-6 from the field and missed both free throw attempts. Their struggles continued throughout the first half, with the Owls taking a 50-29 lead into intermission. The Falcons opened the second half on a 10-2 run, with six of the points coming from the free throw line. Each time Cerritos looked to get closer, the Owls had an answer. Down, 65-50 with 11:50 remaining in the second half, a final run got the team as close at nine points (73-64), with Washington scoring six points during that run, while Tate and sophomore Isaac Sowell (Dominguez HS/Cal Poly Humboldt) each added four points. However, Citrus responded by scoring the next six points in the game to get it back to a 15-point deficit for Cerritos, who ended up losing by 13 points.

Washington went 8-for-11 from the field and finished with a team-high 20 points, while Mack had 14 points, three assists and three steals. Tate (10 points) and Sowell, who had eight points and nine rebounds, also played well.