Playing one of the hottest teams in the state down to the wire, the Cerritos College men's basketball team came up short in a 59-55 playoff loss to host East Los Angeles College on Thursday. Seeded #10 for the Southern California Regional Playoffs, the Falcons (17-11) could not come up with the clutch points against the #7-seeded Huskies (25-4), who won their 16th game in a row and advanced to the Sweet 16.

Down by 11 points in the second half, sophomore Dorian Harris (Cerritos HS) converted a three-point play with 9:13 remaining to pull the team to within 51-45. The defensive game would net just 18 more points the remainder of the game, as both teams played a very tight defensive game. Harris followed his three-point play with another bucket and the Falcons were trailing just 51-47.

The score would stay that way for the next several minutes until the Huskies Jon Sanders hit a three-pointer with 4:48 left to make it a 56-49 game. Sophomore Andre Fields (Warren HS) went up strong and drew a foul after converting a lay-up and completed the three-point play. A pair of JT Langston free throws for East LA gave them a 58-52 lead with 3:48 remaining.

It would be 3:32 before Cerritos would score again, as they missed both of their shots and turned the ball over twice during that duration. Freshman Jalen Shores (Lakewood HS) converted one of two free throws to make it a 58-53 game with :16 seconds left. The Huskies also struggled during that duration, as they missed their next five shots and also turned the ball over twice.

A Juice Belvin (St. Anthony HS) jumper with :11 seconds drew the Falcons to within four points. On the next possession, sophomore Cerroy Chenault (Warren HS) stole the ball, but missed a layup and the clock ran out, which ended the Falcons season.

Harris (19 points, six rebounds), Belvin (16 points, eight rebounds, three assists) and Shores (11 points, six rebounds, three assists) were the top three scorers in the game, as they Huskies had just one player score in double digits.