MEN'S BASKETBALL: 3RD PLACE AT 45TH RIVERSIDE TOURNAMENT

The #13 Hornets kept their winning ways going taking third place at the Riverside Holiday Tournament beating #12 Mt. San Jacinto College 79-60 and #4 Chaffey College 83-59.

MT. SAN JACINTO VS FULLERTON

On Wednesday, the Eagles took 7-2 lead on Fullerton first minutes of the game. FC quickly came back taking an 8-7 lead at 15:30 on a pair of free throws by Kenny Barnes. Mt. San Jacinto went on a 13-6 run going up 21-13 at 12:09, but the Hornets would not go away climbing back within two points by the end of the half 32-30.

At the start of the second half, guard Ian Fox made his presence felt hitting one of his four three-pointers giving FC a 33-32 lead. After that, the Hornets kept a death-grip on the lead going up by as much as 21 points on the Eagles with 4:25 left in the game. 

FC's Ian Fox had a game-high 26 points (4-7 3-point shots), with 9 rebounds, and 2 assists. Dillon Reise scored 18 points, had 6 rebounds, and a blocked shot. Kenny Barnes dropped in 14 points with 6 rebounds. Dezmond Rowen scored 8 points. Nick Anderson contributed 7 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 steals. 

SADDLEBACK VS FULLERTON

The Hornet's lone-loss in the tourney came in the semifinals on Thursday against a well-known Orange Empire Conference rival in #8 Saddleback College. The Gauchos held Fullerton to their lowest scoring output of the season beating FC 58-50. The game was close from beginning to end, however the Hornets went scoreless for four minutes in the final stretch and were unable to recover in the last five minutes. The Gauchos out-shot the Hornets 44.7% to 36%.

Kenny Barnes led Fullerton with 17 points and Dillon Reise followed up with 16 points.

CHAFFEY VS FULLERTON

On Friday, Fullerton won big against #4 Chaffey College 83-59 taking 3rd Place. The Hornets jumped all over the Panthers in the first five minutes going up 13-2 on a layup by Johnathon Ross. FC widened their lead to 35-10 with just over five minutes before the half. By halftime, Fullerton had a 44-17 lead. The second half was all Hornets as they kept Chaffey at bay for the win.

Dillon Reise had a game-high 20 points for Fullerton. He also added 7 rebounds. Johnathon Ross chipped in 18 points and brought down 8 rebounds. Kenny Barnes and Jesse Ghee scored 11 points each. 

This is the 45th year for the Riverside City College Holiday Tournament, which is played at Arthur N. Wheelock Gymnasium. This twelve-team tournament is one of the toughest in the state featuring top-ranked teams #1 San Bernardino Valley, #4 Chaffey, #6 East LA, #8 Saddleback, #12 Mt. San Jacinto, #12 Fullerton, and #17 Riverside. The tourney ran December 6-9.

Up Next: The Hornets (9-3 overall) will play at Palomar College on Friday, December 16th. Game time is at 6:00 pm.

*Photo by Matt Brown 

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