Orange County Community College Basketball : Cerritos Easily Defeats Cypress, 82-52

Led By Willie Joseph’s 20 points, Cerritos College had an easy time defeating Cypress, 82-52, Thursday in the first round of the Fullerton College Basketball Tournament.

Joseph, a 6-foot 4-inch guard, made 10 of 17 shot attempts for Cerritos (1-0).

After Cerritos took a 16-point lead midway through the first half, Cypress rallied to cut the Falcons lead to seven late in the half. However, a Cerritos surge capped by a three-point shot by Bryan Williams gave Cerritos a 39-28 halftime lead.

Williams, a 5-9 guard formerly of UC Irvine, scored 16 points.

Cerritos took control of the game in the second half, outscoring Cypress (1-1), 43-24.

Cypress forward Jim Sammon led the Chargers in scoring with 11 points.

Cerritos will play Santa Barbara in the championship semifinals; Cypress plays Riverside in the consolation semifinals.

In other Fullerton Tournament games:

Santa Barbara 80, Riverside 55--Guard Reynold Baley scored 20 points and forward Jim McCoy scored 19 to help Santa Barbara to this easy victory. Santa Barbara led, 47-29, at halftime. Riverside forward Aaron Rounds scored 17.