THE COLLEGES : Community College Basketball : Late Jump Shot Defeats Fullerton, 71-68 : Third-Ranked Pasadena Works Ball to Wagner for the Game-Winner

Pasadena College’s Kirk Wagner hit a 10-foot jump shot with 35 seconds to play to lead the Lancers to a 71-68 victory over Fullerton in a South Coast Conference basketball game at Fullerton.

Fullerton (10-8, 0-2) had taken a 68-67 lead on Geoffrey Adams’ follow-up dunk of a missed shot with 50 seconds left. The Hornets worked the shot clock down to five seconds before Kellie McKinney’s layup bounced away, but Adams was there for the rebound.

The Lancers came right back and worked the ball to Wagner, who got open inside the key for what proved to be the game-winning shot. Tommie Dunham then sealed the victory with two free throws with 10 seconds to go.

Despite shooting only 31% from the floor in the first half, the Hornets trailed by only five, 32-27, at halftime, largely because of center Kevin Pattrick’s 14 first-half points.

Fullerton took its first lead since the early minutes of the game on Troy Joseph’s three-point shot that made it 37-36 with 17:03 to play. The Hornets extended the lead to four, 42-38 with 14:36 to play, but that was the largest lead either team had the rest of the game.

Pasadena, the state’s third-ranked community college team, was led by Wagner and Dunham with 17 points each and Kenny Talbert with 15.

Patrick finished with 17 to lead Fullerton, followed by McKinney with 13 and Adams with 12. Adams also had 14 rebounds.

In another South Coast Conference game:

Cerritos 79, Golden West 74--Cerritos guard David Porter, who scored a game-high 23 points, hit a three-point shot with five minutes left to give Cerritos (13-6, 2-0) a four-point lead. Golden West (10-8, 0-2), which had led by a slim margin most of the game, never caught up.

Four Rustlers scored in double figures, led by guard Elbert Davis with 17 points. Markus Muller-Stach scored 15 points, Anthony Howard had 14 points and Dan Westmoreland added 11.

Forward Chris Naulls and freshman center Milt Robinson each scored 13 points for Cerritos, and Jim Taylor added 12 points. Porter connected on three of four three-point attempts.