TAMING OF THE TIGERS

On Wednesday night, the Hornets took on Orange Empire Conference rival Riverside City College in the Nest and pushed past the Tigers 64-51.

It was a rough week for the Fullerton in the CCCMBCA state poll that had the Hornets dropping from No. 2 all the way down to No. 11. FC lost a close game to previously ranked No. 8 Santiago Canyon College, who dropped a game to unranked Irvine Valley last Wednesday. Even with the loss, SCC still managed to hang in a top 10 of the poll at No. 10. Currently, there is a three-way tie for first place in the OEC between Cypress (5-1), Fullerton (5-1), and Santiago Canyon (5-1).

The win tonight lifts the Hornets up to 16-2 overall and 5-1 in the Orange Empire Conference, while the Riverside City defeat set the team back at 11-8 overall with an OEC record of 3-3.

Fullerton worked up a 13-5 lead to open the game, but Riverside pulled within 3 points (13-10) by the 12th minute thanks to a three-pointer by Corey Mitchell. With 4 minutes to go in the first half, Addy G'Bye scored on a layup giving the Hornets a 26-19 lead, but once again the Tigers pulled within 3 points of FC (30-27) on a Jayden Miller trey with 1:30 left. Just before the last second ticked off the clock for halftime, Kairi Shepherd launched a deep three-pointer and sunk it for a 33-27 advantage.

Fullerton welcomed the second half with an 11-3 run pushing its lead to 44-30 in the 14th minute. The Tigers had a "never-say-die" attitude pulling back into game one last time trailing by only 2 points (46-44) in the 9th minute. Unphased by Riverside's relentless-play, the Hornets quickly flexed ahead 59-48 on a Joe Grahovac dunk (4th of the game). Out of energy and time, Riverside fell short of one more comeback as Fullerton walked off the court victorious.

Joe Grahovac had another big night for the Hornets dropping down a game-high 27 points, brought down 8 boards, and had 3 blocks. Justin Davis contributed 9 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks, and a steal. Addy G'Bye scored 8 points, had 5 rebounds, with 2 steals, while Kairi Shepherd put up 7 points, had 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals. Brayden Smith (pictured) scored 6 points, had 2 assists, and a steal.

Up Next: The No. 11 Hornets (16-2 overall, 5-1 OEC) will hit the road this Friday, January 17th when they face off with OEC and district rival Cypress College (15-5 overall, 5-1 OEC). Tipoff is at 7:00 pm.