35TH FC M. BASKETBALL CLASSIC PREVIEW

The 35th annual Fullerton College Men’s Basketball Classic kicks of Thursday, Dec. 9th and the Hornets’ Nest will welcome eight quality opponents, including six teams ranked in the latest CCCMBCA State Top 30 poll.

35TH FC M. BASKETBALL CLASSIC PREVIEW
Bracket Photos Video Recap Box Score
December 7, 2021
The 35th annual Fullerton College Men's Basketball Classic kicks of Thursday, Dec. 9th and the Hornets' Nest will welcome eight quality opponents, including six teams ranked in the latest CCCMBCA State Top 30 poll.
 
Your Fullerton Hornets remain No. 1 in the updated State Top 30 after coming up with two quality road wins last week. The Hornets defeated Mt. San Jacinto College, 73-55, led by sophomore forward Chazz Hutchison who poured in 24 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Hutchison finished perfect from the field and the free throw line, hitting all eight of his field goal attempts and all eight of his attempts from the charity stripe.
 
Fullerton then made a visit to Palm Desert to take on College of the Desert which put up a good fight throughout the 40-minute contest. The Hornets found themselves trailing in the second half for the first time all season, and, with injuries to its two top point guards, received sparks from back-up guard Coree Joseph, who dished out eight assists, and sharpshooting freshman Kobe Newton who finished with a team-high 23 points, including six three-pointers.
 
Fullerton battled through some adversity - both on the injury front and in its second half deficit - to pull out a hard-fought win, 84-72, to improve to 8-0 on the season.
 
Now that you have your full briefing on the latest that's going on with your Hornets, let's turn the spotlight to some of the great programs and individual players visiting us this week.
 
The No. 5 team in the state, West Los Angeles, brings a talented group of players, including a number of prospects who are being recruited by four-year schools. Matthew Mayes leads the 8-1 Wildcats with 12 points per game, but he's not the only great scorer for this high-powered offensive team. 
 
West LA five players averaging double-figure scoring: TJ Waldon (11 ppg), Roy Clarke (10.4 ppg), Justin Williams (10.2 ppg) and Dyllan Young (10 ppg). The Wildcats are averaging 90.3 points per game on the season and have four other players averaging between six and nine points per game.
 
Next up on the state ranking list is San Diego City which checks in at No. 7 and are coming off of an impressive week after defeating then No. 2 West Valley to win the Grossmont Tournament. 
 
The Knights feature an electric back-court player in Jonathan Ogugua who is a top 10 scorer in the state, averaging 20.9 points per game through his first nine contests. San Diego City will bring a fierce low-post competitor with them up Interstate 5 in Drew Cisse. The 6-foot-9 center is posting 8.8 points. 7.3 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game. Another back-court player to watch for the Knights is Josh Williams, a 6-foot-2 guard who scores 13 points per game.
 
Sequoias follows SDCC checking in at No. 14 in the state top 30 rankings. The Giants travel south to Southern California with a 5-2 record and an experienced, well-balanced squad. COS has four players averaging better than 10 points per game in Conner Jackson (11.9), Ryan Johnson (10.6), Scott Ator (10.5) and Seth Dawson (10.3). 
 
Fullerton's first round opponent, LA Southwest, is the No. 15-ranked team in the state and has some offensive firepower in its back-court and impressive size in the front-court. Karl Jones, a 7-foot center out of Chicago anchors the low block for the Cougars and a host of perimeter players in Brandon Fredrick, Antoine Bloxton, Cavin Page and Richard McMichael make LA Southwest a dangerous team in any matchup because of their ability to fill it up from behind the arc and fast-paced style of play.
 
Citrus College, which checks in at No. 16, rounds out the state ranked teams in the tournament. The 6-2 Owls are a deep and battle-tested bunch led by 6-foot-5 guard Leonard Turner who is averaging 15.5 points and eight rebounds a game. Other key contributors for Citrus include Anthony Tello (12.4 ppg), Jayden Johnson (10.3 ppg), and Cedric Reed (9.8 ppg).
 
While not ranked among the Top 30 teams in the state, both Southwestern and Chaffey have plenty of talent on their rosters and are looking to shake things up in the event.
 
The two programs will meet in the first round and Southwestern will look to Shawn Sanderlin to lead the way. The 6-foot-5 forward leads the team in scoring with 12.4 points per game and is shooting 50 percent from the field. Six-foot-3 guard Jay Norton is another player to watch for Southwestern. The left-hander out of Mission Bay high school is putting up 9.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game.
 
Chaffey is led by 6-foot-2 point guard Jozelle Carter who is averaging 16.7 points and 6.7 rebounds per game while shooting better than 44 percent from three-point range. The Panthers  also rely heavily on Chijindu Egeonu and Eulysses Foston who are posting 11 and 10.7 points per game, respectively.
 
The Fullerton College Men's Basketball Classic will begin Thursday, Dec. 9th at 1 p.m. with San Diego City vs. Citrus, followed by Southwestern vs. Chaffey at 3 p.m., West LA vs. Sequoias at 5 p.m. and LA Southwest vs Fullerton at 7 p.m.
 
*Story by Devin Ugland