SF Gregory Bewernick had 19 pts, including 5 threes, and 12 rebs and SG Chris Nelson had 17 pts as Fullerton rallied from a 16-point deficit to beat host Santa Ana, 72-69, in a key Orange Empire Conference game for both teams Friday night.
It might not have been an artistic success - Fullerton (6-13, 3-2) shot just 31% from the floor for the night, and Bewernick and Nelson combined to miss 34 shots - but it was a huge win for the Hornets, who remain tied for third place and just a game out of first place in the tough OEC race.
And the Hornets overcame a rough start that saw Santa Ana (8-11, 2-4) jump out to a 16-point first half lead. And after Fullerton rallied to take a 5-point lead midway through the second half, Santa Ana went on an 11-0 run to take a separate 6-point lead.
But Fullerton kept plugging away, tying the game on a basket by SF Matthew Franklin with 1:47 left. Nelson split two free throws to put the Hornets ahead, 66-65, with 1:26 left, and PF Kunnu Shofu scored on a lay-up - on an assist from PG Isiah Johnson Robinson - with just under a minute to go to make it 68-65.
After that, Robinson split two free throws, Nelson made a pair of free throws and Franklin split a pair of free throws, all in the last 31.3 seconds, and that proved to be enough to clinch the win for the Hornets.
All that followed a first half that seemed to see Santa Ana ready to register what would have been a key home victory. The Dons have been a bit perplexing this season, posting a losing record overall and in conference, but tallying wins over OEC co-leaders Riverside and Saddleback along the way.
In this one, the Dons built a huge first half lead, thanks largely to PF Ashton Coleman, who had 15 points and 11 rebounds in the first half alone. After Fullerton led, 6-2, early on, Santa Ana went on a 12-0 spurt to lead, 14-6, after a basket by Coleman with 13:02 left in the first half. Even after a Fullerton free throw, the Dons continued to expand the lead, pushing the advantage to 20-7 after a pair of Coleman free throws with 11:17 left in the fist half, completing an 18-1 run.
And the lead continued to expand. A basket by Coleman off an assist from SG Kacy Barlow made it 24-9. Then Coleman scored on a driving lay-up with just over seven minutes left in the first half to make it 29-13, marking the Dons' largest lead of the game.
Fullerton cut the margin to single digits on a free throw by Robinson with 2:15 left that made it 33-24, and cut the deficit to just seven points at halftime after Robinson made a pair of free throws with 11.7 seconds left in the first half that made it 36-29.
When the second half started, Fullerton continued to chip away at the deficit. Neither team scored until Bewernick made a pair of free throws 2:37 into the half to make it 36-31. Then Bewernick hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give Fullerton its first lead of the second half at 39-38 with 15:45 left.
Fullerton pushed its lead to five points at 51-46 aftetr a baseline drive by PG Joe Klankwamdee with just over 9 minutes left. But Santa Ana answered with an 11-0 run to take a 57-51 lead after a steal & lay-up by PG Kevin Ramirez with 5:40 left. The Dons also led by six at 65-59 before Fullerton's final and ultimately successful rally.
For Fullerton, Bewernick had game-highs of 19 pts and 5 threes, and also a team-high 12 rebs, despite making just 5 of 21 shots. Nelson managed 17 pts, 5 rebs, 2 asts and a steal though he was 6-for-24. Shofu had 13 pts, 9 rebs, 5 blocks and two tremendous putback slams. And Robinson had 12 pts, a game-high 7 asts, 3 steals and no turnovers.
For Santa Ana, Coleman had 15 pts and a game-high 20 rebs, but was held scoreless in the second half. Barlow also had a double-double with 15 pts and 12 rebs. SG Chad Young came off the bench for 11 pts, and Ramirez had 10.
Box Score
Friday, January 20, 2012 - 5:30 pm
at Santa Ana College
Orange Empire Conference
Fullerton Hornets 72:
2-Chris Nelson, SG - 6/24 fg, 3/4 ft, 5 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 4 pf, 17 pts
10-Kunnu Shofu, PF - 4/7 fg, 5/10 ft, 9 reb, 5 blk, 4 pf, 13 pts
11-Isiah Johnson Robinson, PG - 3/9 fg, 5/13 ft, 1 reb, 7 ast, 3 stl, 3 pf, 12 pts
21-Khalfani Williams, C - 2/2 fg, 9 reb, 1 ast, 5 blk, 1 stl, 4 pf, 4 pts
23-Gregory Bewernick, SF - 5/21 fg, 4/4 ft, 12 reb, 2 ast, 1 pf, 19 pts
35-Rico Garrett, G - 0/2 fg, 1 reb, 0 pts
24-Tyler Deliman, C - 1 pf, 0 pts
3-Matthew Franklin, F - 1/2 fg, 3/5 ft, 8 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl, 2 pf, 5 pts
25-Art Gonzalez, G - 0/1 fg, 0 pts
1-Joe Klankwamdee, G - 1/2 fg, 2 ast, 1 stl, 1 pf, 2 pts
team rebounds: 9
Totals: 22/70 fg (.314), 20/36 ft (.556), 54 reb, 15 ast, 10 blk, 9 stl, 20 pf, 72 pts
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3-pt fg (8): Bewernick 5, Nelson 2, Robinson
Turnovers (11): Nelson 3, Shofu 3, Williams 3, Bewernick 2
Santa Ana Dons 69:
5-Kevin Ramirez, PG - 4/13 fg, 2/3 ft, 2 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 3 pf, 10 pts
15-Kacy Barlow, SG - 7/20 fg, 12 reb, 3 ast, 2 pf, 15 pts
20-Ashton Coleman, PF - 6/19 fg, 3/8 ft, 20 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 15 pts
32-Chase Miller, SF - 1/11 fg, 1/2 ft, 6 reb, 4 pf, 4 pts
35-Kashif Williams, C - 2/4 fg, 4/4 ft, 5 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 4 pf, 8 pts
23-Chad Young, G - 5/7 fg, 1/3 ft, 3 reb, 1 stl, 4 pf, 11 pts
33-Justin Oyebanji, F - 0/1 fg, 3 pf, 0 pts
11-Robert Clark, G - 1 reb, 0 pts
4-Brandon Williams, G - 1 ast, 1 pf, 0 pts
43-Blake Carwile, C - 0 pts
55-Kyrie Armstrong, G - 2/3 fg, 2/2 ft, 1 reb, 1 stl, 3 pf, 6 pts
25-Ashton Twine, F - 1 ast, 0 pts
team rebounds: 9
Totals: 27/78 fg (.346), 13/22 ft (.591), 59 reb, 10 ast, 0 blk, 6 stl, 27 pf, 69 pts
3-pt fg (2): Barlow, Miller
Turnovers (17): Coleman 4, Ramirez 3, Barlow 3, Armstrong 3, K.Williams 2, Oyebanji 2
Halftime Score: Santa Ana 36, Fullerton 29
Updated Records: Fullerton 6-13, 3-2 in OEC; Santa Ana 8-11, 2-4 in OEC
Santa Ana led 29-13 with just over 7 minutes left in the 1st half.
Fullerton took a 39-38 lead on a Bewernick 3-pointer with 15:45 left
Nelson made 1 FT to break a 65-all tie with 1:26 left. Then Shofu scored with just under a minute left to make it 68-65.
Robinson made 1 FT, Franklin made 2 FT and Shofu made 1 FT in the last 31.3 seconds to clinch the win for Fullerton.