COMMUNITY COLLEGE ROUNDUP : Golden West Gets Past Fullerton

Tyrone Butler blocked a shot with two seconds left to preserve Golden West’s 72-71 victory over Fullerton in an Orange Empire Conference men’s basketball game Friday at Golden West.

For much of the second half it looked as though Golden West (7-13, 1-3) wouldn’t need any late heroics. The Rustlers built a 64-49 lead with 10 minutes 8 seconds remaining and were ahead, 70-59, with 4:07 to play.

Fullerton’s mad rush started when guard Scott Davis drove the baseline for a reverse dunk with 2:36 left that cut Golden West’s lead to 70-62. Davis made two three-pointers and Jason Cunningham added another and Fullerton was down, 72-71, with one minute left.

After each team missed a shot, Golden West had a chance to run out the clock but Fullerton’s Bryon Steele stole a pass from reserve guard Dezmund Norwood with 11 seconds left and Fullerton called timeout with seven seconds left.

The ball was knocked out of bounds with two seconds left. Fullerton forward Marcus Austin (20 points) got the in-bounds pass, but Butler was in prime position and blocked the shot.

Michael Dean, a sophomore point guard, scored a team-high 20 points for Golden West, which had all five starters in double figures but got no points off the bench. Dean left the game with an ankle injury with 3:17 left. Rod Scheuerman added 16 and Butler 15 for Golden West.

“That affected us,” Golden West Coach Tom McCluskey said about Dean’s injury. “We went into total disarray in the final two minutes. We were really lucky we got it done.”

It was the first conference victory for McCluskey, who is in his first year at Golden West.