Ctr Mark Dawson scored 27 pts and grabbed 13 rebs to lead host Pasadena (22-8) to a 90-80 win over Fullerton (17-14) in a first-round game February 28th.
The Lancers pushed their lead out to 23 midway through the second half, only to see Fullerton rally to within 5 at 82-77 with 2:35 to play. Then Fullerton PG Robert Hicks missed a jumper, and Hornet Ctr Stane's Bufford missed a putback attempt. That ended the comeback, and Pasadena's Dawson and PG Garrett Pickens each made a free throw. Then SG Terrell Stovall made 4 more FTs in the final minute to maintain the lead. A steal and dunk by SF Deon Marcus in the final seconds put an exclamation point on the game.
In the opening minutes, Pasadena jumped out to a 5-0 lead on a jumper by PF Israel Miller and a three by Stovall. Following a basket by Hicks to get Fullerton on the board, Pasadena extended the lead to 11-2 on a putback by Dawson, a layup by Stovall and a pair of FTs by Dawson. The Lancer lead fluctuated between 3 and 10 the rest of the first half until Stovall hit an off-balance three from the left corner just before the halftime buzzer to put Pasadena ahead 47-35.
In the opening minutes of the second half, Pasadena went on an 11-3 run to extend the lead to 18 at 56-38. A jumper by Miller made it 49-35. After a 3-point play by Fullerton SF Bryce Sheldon to make it 49-38, Pasadena got layups from SF Thomas Scott and Dawson, and a 3-point play by Dawson to make it 56-38. A few minutes later Scott nailed a pair of jumpers, the second one being a three, to extend the PCC advantage to 68-45.
Bufford spurred a Fullerton run to get back into the game with a coast-to-coast dunk, and followed that up with a steal and a nice feed to Sheldon for a layup to make it 68-49. About the only thing in Fullerton's favor at that point was that they were already in the bonus. But the Hornets made that pay off as 3 FTs by Sheldon, 3 by SG Chris Williams and 5 by Bufford helped cut the margin. Finally, a putback basket by Bufford and a three by Hicks cut the margin to 9 at 76-67 with just over 6 minutes left.
The Lancers responded as Marcus and Pickens each hit runners to make it 80-67. Following a FT by Fullerton PG Jarel Perry, Dawson threw down a dunk to extend the Pasadena lead back to 82-68, seemingly securing the win for the home squad.
But Fullerton had one more run left in them. Hicks was fouled while attempting a three, and made all 3 FTs to make it 82-71. Then Sheldon knocked down a pair of threes to make it 82-77 with just 2:35 left. But that was as close as Fullerton would get. Shortly after Hicks' and Bufford's misses, PF Miguel Ayala fouled out and that basically ended the comeback.
Pasadena had 4 players in double-figures. In addition to Dawson and Scott, Stovall added 14 pts and Miller had 12. Miller also led all rebounders with 14, and Pickens had game honors with 8 asts.
Fullerton was led by Sheldon's 21 pts, and all 5 starters scored in double figures. Williams had 16 pts and 4 asts, while Hicks had 15 pts. Bufford had 13 pts. Ayala had just 11 pts, all in the first half, but led Fullerton with 10 rebs.
Pasadena shot 52% from the floor, including 67% in the second half (compared to 33% for Fullerton after halftime). And the Lancers owned a 52-34 advantage on the boards, including a commanding 31-16 edge in the first half.
Pasadena moves to 22-8 and will host Compton (13-8) Wednesday night. Fullerton finishes the season at 17-14.
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Saturday, February 28, 2004 - 7 pm
at Hutto-Patterson Gym, Pasadena
Playoffs - 1st Round
Fullerton Hornets 80:
2-Bryce Sheldon, SF - 7/18 fg, 5/6 ft, 2 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 21 pts
3-Robert Hicks, PG - 4/12 fg, 5/5 ft, 3 ast, 1 stl, 15 pts
5-Chris Williams, SG - 6/11 fg, 4/5 ft, 6 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl, 16 pts
10-Miguel Ayala, PF - 4/13 fg, 10 reb, 1 ast, 11 pts
23-Stane's Bufford, C - 4/11 fg, 5/10 ft, 6 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl, 13 pts
4-Nick Buckley, F - 1/1 fg, 1 reb, 1 ast, 2 pts
22-Jarel Perry, G - 0/1 fg, 2/4 ft, 3 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl, 2 pts
team rebounds: 6
Totals: 26/67 fg (.388), 21/30 ft (.700), 34 reb, 19 ast, 0 blk, 7 stl, 80 pts
3-pt fg (7): Ayala 3, Sheldon 2, Hicks 2
Fouled Out: Ayala 1:29 left, Williams 21.3 left
Turnovers (10): Bufford 3, Hicks 2, Williams 2, Sheldon, Buckley, team
Pasadena Lancers 90:
30-Garrett Pickens, PG - 3/8 fg, 1/3 ft, 5 reb, 8 ast, 2 stl, 7 pts
33-Israel Miller, PF - 5/11 fg, 2/4 ft, 14 reb, 3 ast, 12 pts
34-Terrell Stovall, SG - 3/5 fg, 6/10 ft, 5 reg, 6 ast, 14 pts
40-Thomas Scott, SF - 7/13 fg, 2/2 ft, 2 reb, 6 ast, 1 stl, 19 pts
52-Mark Dawson, C - 11/15 fg, 5/8 ft, 13 reb, 1 ast, 3 blk, 27 pts
22-Devon Thomas, G - 1/4 fg, 1 reb, 1 ast, 2 pts
10-Deon Marcus, F - 4/9 fg, 0/2 ft, 3 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 9 pts
14-Tony Lor, G - 0 pts
team rebounds: 9
Totals: 34/65 fg (.523), 16/29 ft (.552), 52 reb, 27 ast, 3 blk, 4 stl, 90 pts
3-pt fg (6): T.Scott 3, Stovall 2, Marcus
Fouled Out: T.Scott 1:14 left
Turnovers (16): Pickens 4, Stovall 4, T.Scott 2, Dawson 2, Thomas 2, Marcus 2
Halftime Score: Pasadena 47, Fullerton 35
Updated Records: Pasadena 22-8, Fullerton 17-14
PCC opened early leads of 5-0 and 11-2. A three by Stovall just before the halftime buzzer pushed the lead to 12, and they extended the advantage to 23 midway through the second. Fullerton rallied to within 9 with 6 mins left and 5 with 2:35 left but that was as close as they got.
