Hornets Rally After Trailing by 21 Points

Fullerton, down by 21 points early, rallied to beat Chaffey, 78-69, in the opening round of the Pasadena men’s basketball tournament Thursday at Rio Hondo College.

Chaffey opened a 25-4 lead, but Fullerton closed the first half with a 35-13 run to lead, 39-38.

Rashaun Thomas attempted a three-pointer at end of the first half and was fouled. He made two of three free throws to give Fullerton its first lead of the game.

The Hornets opened the second half with a 12-0 run and pulled away.

Curtis Harris came off the bench to score a team-high 20 for Fullerton (7-6).

Ronald Strange added 10 points and 18 rebounds for Fullerton, which plays Santa Monica in one semifinal at 7:30 p.m. tonight.

Santa Monica defeated Golden West Thursday to end the Rustlers’ four-game winning streak.

Golden West plays Chaffey at 11:15 a.m. today in one consolation game.

In another tournament game:

Cuesta 80, Santa Ana 71--Greg Gray, a freshman forward who missed nine games because of stress fracture in his foot, returned and scored 16 points for Santa Ana (7-4). He played in the opening game and didn’t play again until Thursday.

Sophomore guard Chris Mattice had 18 also for Santa Ana, which plays in the consolation round today at 1:30.

Jason Singletary scored 20 for Cuesta (13-3), which led by 13 at the half and as many as 20 in the second half.

In the San Bernardino Valley Tournament:

Cypress 56, East Los Angeles 47--Chris Killens and Meko Parker each scored 18 points for Cypress in the first round. The Chargers (6-7) were ahead 27-22 at halftime and never relinquished the lead.