MEN'S BASKETBALL: MOVING ON TO THE SOCAL FINALS

In the semi-finals of the SoCal Regionals, the #1 Fullerton College men's basketball team hosted #17 Barstow College on Saturday night and ended the Vikings season 96-65.

In the first round last Wednesday, Barstow throttled #16 Miramar College last Wednesday night 83-68 advancing them to tonight's quarterfinal game against the Hornets.

Cutting through the Viking's full court press like a hot knife through butter, Fullerton did not waste any time jumping ahead early to take a 26-8 lead at 12:49 on an Ian Fox three-pointer.

By the end of the half, the Hornets had a healthy 47-26 lead thanks to some sharp shooting from beyond the arc. At one point in the first half, Fullerton was 5-6 from three-point land and shot 52.9% from the field.

FC did not let up in the second half maintaining their healthy lead over the Vikings with some strong defense and smooth ball handling. Barstow never abandoned their full court press, but the disciplined Fullerton squad had no problem breaking through for a few easy buckets. The Hornets imposed their largest lead of the game of 37 points (88-51) with just over five minutes left to play.

Fullerton's shooting got even hotter in the second half hitting 60.7% of their shots. For the game, FC shot 56.5% to Barstow's 34.8%. From beyond the arc, FC was 13 out of 29 with Ian Fox hitting 6 of 15.

Kenny Barnes had a strong performance tonight scoring a game-high 26 points for the Hornets. He also had 4 rebounds and 3 assists. Ian Fox put up 24 points with 8 rebounds and 3 steals. Kendall Lauderdale dropped in 14 points and brought down 4 rebounds. Dillon Reise had 11 points and Nick Anderson had 8 points. Anderson was in the mood to share as he delivered 13 assists and also had 7 rebounds. 

Up Next: The Southern California Regional Finals - The Hornets (22-6 overall) will play Chaffey College (23-8 overall) on Saturday, March 4th at 7:00 pm. Last Friday, Chaffey got past Bakersfield 75-73 in overtime to advance to the SoCal Finals with FC. The winner of this one goes to the State Tournament with three other teams from the south where they will compete with four of the top teams from the north.

SOCAL BRACKET    -    NORCAL BRACKET

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