In a showdown of SCC divisional leaders, #2 Mt. San Antonio used a 21-2 run to start the second half to take control en route to an 80-66 win over host #12 Cerritos Friday night at Falcon Gymnasium in Norwalk.
Mt. San Antonio (20-2, 7-1) led wire-to-wire after a slam dunk by Ctr Cliff Sims off the game's opening tip. But the Mounties never led by more than 8 points in the first half, and held just a 33-32 lead at the break.
But once the second half began, Mt. SAC quickly expended its lead, scoring the first 12 points of the half as Cerritos (13-8, 7-1) missed its first 8 shots of the half and mixed in three turnovers. That 12-0 spurt started the 21-2 run, and Mt. SAC led by at least 13 points the rest of the game.
Mt. SAC led, 6-0, early on, with that spurt started by Sims' dunk in the opening seconds. In a theme that would repeat several times, Cerritos rallied to get within a point at 8-7, but never took the lead.
SF Garrett Nevels scored 5 straight points to push Mt. SAC's lead back to six at 13-7. Cerritos again got within a point at 14-13, only to see Mt. SAC push its lead back to six at 19-13 after a spectacular one-handed dunk over a defender by SG Corey Allen with 11:02 left in the half.
Mt. SAC extended its lead to as many as eight points at 32-24. SG Jordan Reise nearly got Cerritos even with a pair of three-pointers, sandwiched around two free throws from SF Anthony Holliday, to get the Falcons within a point at halftime, 33-32.
But then came Mt. SAC's run to start the second half. After Holliday scored to stop Mt. SAC's 12-0 opening spurt, PG Hakeem Nance converted a 3-point play to give the Mounties a 50-34 lead. A few seconds later Allen stole the ball near midcourt and went in for a lay-up to make it 52-34. Then Allen stole a pass and got the ball to Nevels for a dunk to make it 54-34 with 12:49 left.
Cerritos got within 13 points at 56-43 after a pair of baskets by SG Kevin Conrad, but never really threatened. And Mt. SAC quickly answered with a 14-5 run to push the lead to 22 points at 70-48 after a 3-point play by PG John Haywood with 7:29 left, putting the game out of reach.
For Mt. SAC, Allen led all scorers with 19 pts and added 5 asts and 5 steals while not committing a turnover. Nevels had 15 pts and added 8 rebs, 2 asts, 2 blocks and 2 steals. Sims had 9 pts, 8 rebs, 2 asts and 2 blocked shots, and Nance came off the bench for 9 pts and 2 asts.
For Cerritos, Holliday had a team-high 16 pts. Conrad had 12 pts plus 7 rebs and 4 asts, and Reise came off the bench for 12 pts including 3 threes. But the top Falcon was probably PF David Hall, who came off the bench for 13 pts, a game-high 9 rebs, plus 2 asts, 2 blocked shots and 3 steals.
With the win, Mt. SAC holds a 2-game lead over East LA in the Northern Division race. And even with the loss, Cerritos still leads LA Harbor by a game in the Southern Division. (In the SCC, there are two separate divisions, but all SCC games count in division standings).
box score
Friday, February 1, 2013 - 7 pm
at Falcon Gymnasium, Cerritos College, Norwalk
South Coast Conference
Mt. San Antonio Mounties 80:
3-Andrew Ortiz, PF - 1/3 fg, 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 2 pts
12-Corey Allen, SG - 5/10 fg, 9/9 ft, 3 reb, 5 ast, 5 stl, 2 pf, 19 pts
22-Cliff Sims, C - 4/8 fg, 1/3 ft, 8 reb, 2 ast, 2 blk, 3 pf, 9 pts
25-Garrett Nevels, SF - 5/13 fg, 4/5 ft, 8 reb, 2 ast, 2 blk, 2 stl, 1 pf, 15 pts
33-John Haywood, PG - 3/5 fg, 2/2 ft, 7 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 4 pf, 8 pts
4-Hakeem Nance, G - 2/5 fg, 5/7 ft, 1 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 9 pts
23-Christian Cooper, C - 2/2 fg, 2/2 ft, 1 reb, 4 pf, 6 pts
32-Christian Mays, F - 3/5 fg, 3/6 ft, 1 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 2 stl, 5 pf, 9 pts
24-Shadrach Earby, G - 0/1 fg, 1/2 ft, 3 reb, 1 ast, 2 pf, 1 pt
42-Josh Hopkins, G - 0/1 fg, 1 ast, 2 pf, 0 pts
34-Kacy Barlow, F - 0/1 fg, 2/4 ft, 2 reb, 2 pts
team rebounds: 4
Totals: 25/54 fg (.463), 29/40 ft (.725), 40 reb, 18 ast, 5 blk, 13 stl, 23 pf, 80 pts
3-pt fg (1): Nevels
Fouled Out: Mays 4:06 left
Turnovers (16): Nance 4, Haywood 3, Nevels 2, Mays 2, Ortiz, Sims, Cooper, Earby, Hopkins
Cerritos Falcons 66:
1-Anthony Holliday, SF - 5/12 fg, 6/9 ft, 3 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 16 pts
4-Kevin Conrad, SG - 5/11 fg, 1/2 ft, 7 reb, 4 ast, 3 pf, 12 pts
20-DeAnthony Roberts, PF - 0/1 fg, 0/2 ft, 1 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 4 pf, 0 pts
22-Amir McCormick, PG - 2/4 fg, 1 reb, 1 stl, 1 pf, 5 pts
32-Marquise Washington, C - 1/5 fg, 2 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 2 pf, 2 pts
11-Chris Wyms, G - 0/3 fg, 2 reb, 1 ast, 3 pf, 0 pts
23-David Hall, F - 5/9 fg, 3/5 ft, 9 reb, 2 ast, 2 blk, 3 stl, 4 pf, 13 pts
34-Andrew Torres, G - 0/4 fg, 2/2 ft, 2 reb, 2 pts
35-Terence Traylor, C - 1/2 fg, 0/2 ft, 3 reb, 1 ast, 3 pf, 2 pts
2-Jordan Reise, G - 4/8 fg, 1/1 ft, 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 pf, 12 pts
31-Henry Igboke, F - 0 pts
24-Jon Benson, F - 0/1 fg, 2/2 ft, 1 ast, 3 pf, 2 pts
team rebounds: 5
Totals: 23/60 fg (.383), 15/25 ft (.600), 36 reb, 16 ast, 3 blk, 8 stl, 27 pf, 66 pts
3-pt fg (5): Reise 3, Conrad, McCormick
Turnovers (18): Conrad 5, Hall 3, Holliday 2, Roberts 2, McCormick 2, Washington 2, Wyms, Torres
Halftime Score: Mt. San Antonio 33, Cerritos 32
Updated Records: Mt. San Antonio (#2-South, #4-Calif) 20-2, 7-1 in SCC; Cerritos (#12-South) 13-8, 7-1 in SCC
Mt. SAC led wire to wire but never by more than 8 points in the 1st half.
Mt. SAC started the 2nd half with a 21-2 run and led by 13 or more the rest of the way.
