Shaquil Bender makes one of his buckets scoring 18 points.
Shaquil Bender makes one of his buckets scoring 18 points.

HORNETS BACK TO WORK IN A BIG WAY

The No. 1 in SoCal Hornets celebrated their home-opener on Thursday with a 114-70 victory over Moorpark College. 

Fullerton opened the 2022-23 season on Tuesday at No. 8 LA Trade Tech College and handed the Beavers an 89-76 loss. Shaquil Bender had a game-high 19 points with Jeremiah Davis and Kobe Newton put up 13 apiece. Sean Newman nearly had a triple-double with 12 points, 10 boards, and 9 assists. Javon Jones also had 12 points. 

Tonight's matchup with Moorpark was a good win for the Hornets, who took a 14-5 lead at the start of the game and never let up. A three-pointer by Kobe Newton put FC up 24-13 by the 11-minute mark, and with just over two minutes left in the first half, Shaquil Bender knocked down a three putting Fullerton up 45-31. By halftime, Fullerton held a 49-33 lead that was capped off by another three by Bender. 

In the second half, the Hornets pushed ahead going on a 22-5 run that showcased a few shots from beyond the arc by Jeremiah Davis, Shaquil Bender, Sean Newman Jr., and Kobe Newton. 

Scoring a team-high 18 points, Shaquil Bender was 3-6 from beyond the arc. Kobe Newton had 17 points and was 4-7 from three-point-land. Jeremiah Davis followed up with 15 points, Godfrey Little was good for 12 points (4-5 3-pointers), while Sammy Howlin and Javon Jones both dropped in 10. Jackson Hopps came in to score 9 points and had 5 rebounds. RJ Banks helped with 7 rebounds, 5 assists, and 5 points. 

The last time the Hornets scored over one hundred points was February 25th of last year- a 111-79 win over Golden West. The record for most points in a game is 137 set back in 1990 under Head Coach Roger See.  

Up Next: The No. 1 Hornets (2-0 overall) will host another non-conference game on Tuesday, November 8th when Porterville College comes to town. Tipoff is at 5:00 pm. 

*Photo by Jim McCormack