#14 Fullerton may have entered conference play with a .500 record, but the Hornets (10-8, 2-0) have quickly risen to the top of the tough Orange Empire Conference after a hard-fought 70-66 win over #2 Riverside (17-5, 1-1) Friday night. SG Ahmaad Cook came off the bench to score 22 pts and SF Darnell Porter had 14 pts, including a key tip-in with 6.6 seconds left that clinched the win for Fullerton.
This one had the intensity and tempo of a playoff game as two of the top teams in perhaps California’s toughest conference squared off. In all, there were 55 fouls called, 70 free throws attempted and 44 turnovers, and the defenses were such that neither team managed a .400 shooting percentage from the floor. And neither team led by more than 9 points all game or by more than 6 points in the second half.
Riverside held a 56-55 lead with less than 2 minutes left until Cook drained a 3-pointer to give Fullerton a 58-56 lead with 1:45 left. The Hornets led the rest of the way, but Riverside had numerous chances to draw even and was still only two points behind when Porter’s tip-in of a missed free throw with 6.6 seconds left made it 68-64. Riverside never had the ball with the Fullerton lead less than 4 points after that basket.
Early on, Riverside jumped to a 5-0 lead on a 3-pointer by SG Donovan Buford and a putback basket by Ctr David Norris. Meanwhile, Fullerton missed its first 5 shots from the floor. Riverside pushed the lead to as much as 9 points at 18-9 after a basket by Buford with just over ten minutes elapsed in the first half.
But Fullerton rallied, scoring the game’s next 9 points and tying the game at 18 on a free throw by PG Lavell McDade with 7:20 left in the half. The lead went back and forth the rest of the half before a pair of free throws by McDade with 52.2 seconds left before halftime gave Fullerton a 29-28 lead. A dunk by PF Tre Brewer pushed the Hornet lead to 31-28. And a FG+FT 3-point play by Ctr Mike Cox with 4.9 seconds left in the half pushed Fullerton’s lead to 34-28 at the break.
When the second half began, Riverside quickly wiped out most of that lead, drawing to within a point at 36-35 on a free throw by PG Daniel Redmon after a steal. Fullerton then pushed the margin back to 6 points at 43-37, but Riverside rallied again, tying the game on a pair of free throws by SF Robbie (Wayne) Robinson with 11:09 left in the game.
After that, the lead went back and forth with neither team leading by more than one point until Cook’s 3-pointer made it 58-56 Fullerton with 1:45 left. A free throw by Cox made it 59-56 with 1:20 left, and two free throws by Porter after a steal made it 61-56 with 1:12 left.
But the Fullerton lead was far from safe at that point. Riverside got a free throw from Buford to make it 61-57 with 1:09 left. Then Robinson stole the ball back for the Tigers, only to have the ball stolen away by Porter seconds later. Then PG James Calhoun stole the ball back for Riverside, but moments later Norris was called for a charging foul, turning the ball back over and fouling out of the game with 53.5 seconds left.
Fullerton got a pair of free throws from Porter to make it 63-57 with 52.7 seconds left, but Riverside still wasn’t out of the game. A driving lay-up by Redmon made it 63-59 with 37.4 seconds left. At that point, Riverside had no alternative but to foul immediately, and Cook made one of two free throws for Fullerton to make it 64-59 with 36.1 seconds left. Robinson then made it a one-score game, banking home a one-hander with 27.4 seconds left to make it 64-61.
Riverside then fouled again and sent Cox to the line with 24.1 seconds left. He missed both free throws, but two Riverside players fought for the rebound on the second missed shot and the ball fell out of bounds to Fullerton. On the restart, Riverside fouled Cook, who again made one of two free throws to make it 65-61 with 20.5 seconds left.
Then Robinson knocked down a 3-pointer with 9.8 seconds left to make it a one-point game at 65-64. Again, Riverside fouled immediately, sending SG Taylor Walker to the free throw line. Walker made the first shot, but missed the second. That turned out to work in Fullerton’s favor however when Porter tipped the ball back in, making it 68-64 with 6.6 seconds left.
Riverside got one last basket when Calhoun scored with 0.9 seconds left. But Fullerton finally clinched the win half a second later when Cook made a pair of free throws with 0.4 seconds left to make it 70-66.
For Fullerton, Cook led all scorers with 22 pts, including 3 threes. Amazingly, he was the only Fullerton bench player to score a point in the game. Porter had 14 pts plus a game-high 7 asts, 5 rebs and 3 steals. McDade added 12 pts and Cox had 11 pts plus a team-high 8 rebs and a game-high 6 blocked shots.
For Riverside, Robinson led the way with 19 pts, and he also had 5 rebs. Redmon had 11 pts and 3 asts. Norris had 8 pts plus a game-high 9 rebs and a team-high 4 asts before fouling out in the last minute. And Calhoun came off the bench to contribute 14 pts plus 3 asts and 3 steals for the Tigers.
One other note of interest is that Riverside played without Washington signee Ctr Charles Garcia, who, according to Coach John Smith is no longer with the team.
box score
Friday, January 9, 2009 – 7:30 pm
at The Hornets’ Nest, Fullerton
Orange Empire Conference
Riverside Tigers 66:
0-Robbie (Wayne) Robinson, SF – 6/12 fg, 4/4 ft, 5 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl, 4 pf, 19 pts
2-David Norris, C – 3/11 fg, 2/2 ft, 9 reb, 4 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 5 pf, 8 pts
10-Daniel Redmon, PG – 3/5 fg, 5/6 ft, 2 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl, 4 pf, 11 pts
24-Donovan Buford, SG – 2/12 fg, 1/2 ft, 2 reb, 3 ast, 4 pf, 6 pts
32-Jeffeth Maxim, PF – 1/2 fg, 5 reb, 1 blk, 2 stl, 4 pf, 2 pts
22-Kevin Bradshaw, C – 1/4 fg, 2/2 ft, 8 reb, 1 blk, 3 pf, 4 pts
31-Jovan Bryant, G – 0/2 fg, 1 ast, 2 pf, 0 pts
5-Shawn Sawyer, F – 1/5 fg, 4 reb, 1 stl, 2 pts
1-Lawrence Etah, G – 1 stl, 2 pf, 0 pts
21-Deondrae Lewis, F – 2 pf, 0 pts
3-James Calhoun, G – 3/3 fg, 7/10 ft, 1 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl, 3 pf, 14 pts
13-Aaron Snyder, G – 0/1 fg, 0 pts
team rebounds: 4
Totals: 20/57 fg (.351), 21/26 ft (.808), 40 reb, 14 ast, 4 blk, 11 stl, 33 pf, 66 pts
3-pt fg (5): Robinson 3, Buford, Calhoun
Technical Foul: Bradshaw
Fouled Out: Norris 53.5 seconds left
Turnovers (23): Norris 5, Calhoun 4, Robinson 3, Redmon 3, Buford 2, Etah 2, Maxim, Bradshaw, Sawyer, Lewis
Fullerton Hornets 70:
4-Taylor Walker, SG – 1/5 fg, 3/4 ft, 2 reb, 3 stl, 4 pf, 5 pts
5-Darnell Porter, SF – 3/9 fg, 8/13 ft, 5 reb, 7 ast, 3 stl, 4 pf, 14 pts
22-Lavell McDade, PG – 2/9 fg, 7/9 ft, 5 reb, 3 ast, 4 pf, 12 pts
23-Tre Brewer, PF – 2/5 fg, 2/2 ft, 7 reb, 1 blk, 1 pf, 6 pts
32-Mike Cox, C – 4/6 fg, 3/8 ft, 8 reb, 2 ast, 6 blk, 4 pf, 11 pts
3-Ahmaad Cook, G – 7/13 fg, 5/8 ft, 2 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl, 2 pf, 22 pts
10-Tsung-Hsien (Swing) Chuang, F – 1 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl, 0 pts
12-Julius Armon, F – 0/2 fg, 1 reb, 2 pf, 0 pts
24-Carl Bryant, G – 1 reb ,0 pts
2-Paul Taylor, G – 1 pf, 0 pts
25-Tenacious Gibson, F – 1 stl, 0 pts
team rebounds: 5
Totals: 19/49 fg (.388), 28/44 ft (.636), 37 reb, 13 ast, 8 blk, 10 stl, 22 pf, 70 pts
3-pt fg (4): Cook 3, McDade
Intentional Foul: McDade
Technical Foul: Porter
Turnovers (21): Walker 4, Cook 3, Porter 2, McDade 2, Cox 2, Chuang 2, Armon 2, Taylor 2, Brewer, Gibson
Halftime Score: Fullerton 34, Riverside 28
Updated Records: Fullerton (#14-South) 10-8 overall, 2-0 in OEC; Riverside (t-#2-South, t-#3-Calif 17-5 overall, 1-1 in OEC)
Porter’s tip-in of a Walker missed FT with 6.6 seconds left gave Fullerton a 4-pt lead and put the Hornets in control.
