Hornets beat Gauchos in a close match
On Feb. 4, Saddleback men’s basketball lost to the Fullerton Hornets in a surprisingly close home game.
The last time these two teams played, the Gaucho’s won 70-50. This time around, the Hornets employed great agility and speed from the start, ultimately resulting in their win.
From the start of the game, the Hornets were making two and three pointers while the Gaucho’s racked up fouls.
Wendell Faines, playing forward, seemed to never catch a break in the start of the game, as the whistle blew constantly calling out his fouls.
As Saddleback and Fullerton proceeded with the game, people in the stands were feeling the pressure for the Gaucho’s as they watched Fullerton make shots and free throws while the Gauchos had not made a single shot.
Saddleback’s team was evidently unprepared on this particular night, as spectators watched players like Vincent Hatter-Rolland, center, holler demands back and forth to teammates with little progress in their organization.
Slowly, the Gaucho’s picked up momentum in their game with the help of Myron Green and Marquis Green, both guards, who helped turn the game around by halftime.
By halftime, the score on the board showed Fullerton in the lead 32-30.
After the break, the Gaucho’s took on a different persona as their players Johnel Gray, guard, and Faines raced back and forth across the floor blocking the Hornets from continuing to dominate the game.
Faines, who racked up five fouls in the beginning of the game, was now making great shots, but his efforts were not enough to secure a win against the Hornets.
With players like Fullerton’s Ramez Michail, guard, making 13 points for his team alone, the Hornets were controlling the game.
Up until the last 6 minutes of the game, the Gauchos taking the lead seemed to be an impossible hope until Gray made a shot bringing the Gauchos into a sensitive score of 49-48.
With Saddleback in the lead 51-48, the crowd gained some confidence in the Gauchos while the Hornets began feeling this game has now taken on a new edge.
Two minutes until everything was over, Saddleback was leading by six points. The Hornets continued to press to get back their spot as the leaders and did so with 50 seconds left in the game.
As Fullerton’s women’s basketball team cheered on their male counterparts, making the Gaucho cheerleaders inaudible, the Hornets won this game 66-61 with three seconds left.
The Gaucho’s coach, Andy Ground made a fair and honest comment about the game, saying “They (Fullerton) took it to us. They (Saddleback) just didn’t get it done.”
Saddleback’s delayed efforts to win the game from the start fell short of making a dent in the Hornet’s consistent great performance throughout the game.