Community College Basketball : Ryan Can Only Watch as Pirates Lose to Hornets in OT

The game was on the line, but Orange Coast College’s Shaughn Ryan was on the bench, reduced to the role of mere spectator in the most important game of his community college career.

Here it was, the opening round of the South Coast Conference’s Shaughnessy playoffs, and Ryan had fouled out with more than 11 minutes remaining against Fullerton Monday night at Cerritos College.

True, the Hornets had already cut Orange Coast’s 10-point halftime lead to two when Ryan committed his fifth foul of the night and third in a 49-second span, but they had to force an overtime period to win. If Ryan had been able to stick around a little longer, Orange Coast might just have scored an upset instead of suffering a 63-62 defeat.

“I would have loved to contribute,” said Ryan, who finished with 10 points, seven below his season average. “It was very hard having to watch.”

The winning basket was scored by Paul Rollins with 34 seconds left in overtime, giving third-place Fullerton (19-11) its seventh overtime win without a loss against SCC opponents this year and a berth in Wednesday’s Shaughnessy final against Cerritos.

Fourth-place Orange Coast (18-13) outplayed the often lethargic Hornets badly in the first half and built a 33-23 lead after 20 minutes. The Pirates, led by Brad Farmer, Garinn Morton and Ryan, shot 68% (13 of 19) from the floor in the half.

The second half, though, was a different story. The Hornets were much more inspired than they had been earlier, and, led by center Michael Long, they began to come back.

Fullerton was behind, 47-45, when Ryan ran through Todd Trueman’s screen and went out of the game for good. About four minutes later, the Hornets took the lead for the first time since 2-0 on a jump shot by Long.

Orange Coast, though, continued to play hard and the lead changed several times in the final minutes of regulation. A basket by Pete Toomey tied it at 57-57 with two seconds in regulation.

ORANGE COAST (62)--Johnston 6, Goudge 12, Ryan 10, Morton 11, Farmer 17, Toomey 7.

FULLERTON (63)--Smith 3, Trueman 5, Long 22, Rollins 14, Samuelson 11, Pratt 2, Haymond 6.

Halftime--Orange Coast, 33-23.

Regulation--57-57.

In other SCC Shaughnessy action:

Cerritos 74, Cypress 62--The conference co-champion Falcons (23-7) held the Chargers (14-13) without a point for more than five minutes to open the second half and ended a three-game losing streak.

CYPRESS (62)--Bailey 6, Martineau 9, Marusich 6, Kramer 10, Horn 7, Gerlach 2, Umans 2, Buckner 10, Swanner 4, Swenson 6.

CERRITOS (74)--Wadlington 9, Heicke 16, Guy 9, Yezbak 5, Coleman 19, Strachan 2, Lueke 3, Collins 6, Andrews 1, Zagorski 4.

Halftime--Tie, 33-33.