Community College Roundup : Fullerton Snaps Cerritos’ Streak in OT

There were so many elbows thrown and pushes exchanged Saturday night in the Fullerton College gym, you had to wonder if the South Coast Conference game between the Hornets and Cerritos was just a street fight in disguise.

One player, the Falcons’ Brian Coleman, suffered an ugly cut over his left eye. Fullerton’s Jim Smith and Cerritos’ Russell Heicke both had cut lips.

All the under-the-basket brawling marred what was otherwise an incredible game, won by Fullerton in double overtime, 78-69, before a crowd of 600.

The loss snapped Cerritos’ 12-game win streak, and left the Falcons (8-1 in conference and 17-4 overall) in a first-place tie with Mt. San Antonio. Third-place Fullerton is two games behind at 6-3 and 12-10.

Fullerton, playing an especially physical brand of basketball, took a a 58-52 lead on two free throws by Todd Trueman with a little more than two minutes to play in regulation. But then the Hornets tried their best to give away a sure win.

On their next three times down the court following Trueman’s free throws, the Hornets’ Smith, Paul Rollins and Jon Samuelson all missed one-and-one free throw chances. Meanwhile, the Falcons’ Marlon Wadlington made three quick baskets to tie the score.

Wadlington, who missed a crucial free throw himself after this third basket, had another chance to win it for Cerritos when he stole the ball from Fullerton’s Derrell Pratt with three seconds left, but his slam dunk was ruled to have gone in the basket after the buzzer by referee Doug Ives.

In the first overtime, Wadlington, who scored 10 of Cerritos’ final 12 points, had another chance to win it for the Falcons, but missed two more free throws with three seconds on the clock and the teams tied, 62-62.

In the second overtime, Fullerton outscored Cerritos, 16-7, to win it. Smith had six points in the second overtime to lead the Hornets, and Rollins had four. Rollins, who was 10 of 15 from the floor for the game, ended with a career-high 26 points.

CERRITOS (69)--Yezbak 16, Wadlington 12, Coleman 13, Guy 7, Heicke 14, Andrews 5, Lueke 2.

FULLERTON (78)--Smith 12, Trueman 10, Long 12, Samuelson 12, Rawlins 26, Pratt 2, Haymond 4.

Halftime--Cerritos, 36-35. Regulation--58-58.

First overtime--62-62.

In other South Coast Conference action:

Mt. SAC 60, Saddleback 59--George Tarkanian hit a free throw with 17 seconds to play to give Mt. SAC a 60-57 lead, and the Mounties (8-1, 21-3) held on for the win at Saddleback (4-5, 14-9).

MT. SAC (60)--Leonard 6, Tarkanian 2, Richard 18, Bailey 12, Ramirez 14, Bragg 8.

SADDLEBACK (59)--Hamilton 24, Dawson 4, Mulder 5, Thomas 4, Cornly 14, Sullivan 8.

Halftime--Mt. SAC, 36-27.

Cypress 50, Orange Coast 42--Tied at 35-35 with 11:32 left in the game, the Chargers (5-4, 11-8) outscored the Pirates (4-5, 13-10), 11-0, over the next six minutes to win at Orange Coast.

CYPRESS (50)--Bailey 15, Martineau 7, Horn 6, Marusich 8, Swanner 10, Berwick 4.

ORANGE COAST (42)--Ryan 4, Johnston 7, Goudge 6, Toomey 2, Morton 10, Farmer 13.

Halftime--OCC, 25-23.

Compton 80, Golden West 71--The Rustlers (0-9, 7-15) tied a school record by losing their 10th straight game in Huntington Beach. That equallled the mark established by the 1973-74 team. Robert Johnson scored 25 points and had 10 rebounds to lead the Tartars (3-6, 8-12).

COMPTON (80)--R. Johnson 25, Bullock 5, Stewart 16, Fleming 6, D. Johnson 18, Cross 8, Henderson 2.

GOLDEN WEST (71)--Love 16, Lorigan 18, Bruce 19, Hutson 14, Debbs 2, Mann 2.

Halftime--Compton, 44-40.