Men’s Basketball Upset Cerritos in Conference Win

Men's basketball sophomores included William English, Mark Neal Jr., Isaiah Keyes, and Duwane Hicks.
Men's basketball sophomores included William English, Mark Neal Jr., Isaiah Keyes, and Duwane Hicks.

The men's basketball team snapped No. 8/4 Cerritos College's South Coast Conference winning streak on Friday evening in the Hall of Champions. The Vikings defeated the Falcons 75-69 on sophomore night. With the win, the Vikings are now 18-11 overall and 7-3 in conference.

In the nail-biting game, the Falcons took the lead early on, but the Vikings exchanged the lead 11 times during the course of the game. The Vikings started to get some rhythm in the first half, but could quite catch up to the Falcons. Sophomore guard William English smashed eight points in the first half and was perfect at the free throw line with going four-for-four. Sophomore Jamiu Akinbile also tallied six points for the Vikings in the first to keep the Falcons within reaching distance.

The game intensified in the second half. Freshman guard Jeremiah Sadler tied the game with a free throw with six minutes left. Freshman forward Artis Parris helped extend the lead for the Vikings by adding 15 points in the second half alone. He totaled 20 points overall for the Vikings and had seven rebounds and four assists.

The Falcons and Vikings tied the game six times, but the Vikings ultimately left with the 75-69 victory. Sadler and Akinbile both anchored nine points each and sophomore Jordan Heard finished the game with four steals.