Orange Coast gets stung in Hornets Nest

A 5-1 conference start is promising, but Pirates are still disappointed with lopsided defeat against state’s No. 1 team.FULLERTON -- For the Orange Coast College men’s basketball team, this season has been about gaining respect. Wednesday night, going up against Fullerton, the No. 1-ranked team in Southern California and the state, it was all about shooting for the upset.

Instead, an athletic Fullerton team with an oppressive defense dominated the Pirates en route to a 70-45 Orange Empire Conference victory at the Hornets Nest.

Fullerton (26-0, 6-0 in conference) controlled the paint on both ends of the floor, coming down with 49 rebounds to Orange Coast’s 29.

Fullerton only shot 32% from the field -- which was still better than Orange Coast’s 27% -- but it shot 37 free throws to the Pirates’ 16. The Hornets converted on 29 of their 37 free throws.

The Pirates only had two free-throw attempts in the first half, when they were held to 19 points.

“Fullerton played great defense,” Orange Coast Coach Steve Spencer said. “But if you don’t bring your ‘A’ game against the No. 1 team in the state, you’re going to get a good old-fashion butt-kicking.”

The Pirates, normally an excellent three-point shooting team, were just 4 for 21 from behind the arc. They were unable to get inside too often and were smothered by the Hornets on the outside.

“We wanted to focus on going to the middle, but we let their defense force us down the baseline,” Orange Coast point guard Lance Ortiz said. “We were pretty much in their hands.”

For Fullerton, 6-foot-9 forward Michael Earl and 6-7 forward Rodrick Johnson netted 17 points each and guard Corey McIntosh added 16 points and seven assists.

Ortiz, Greg Okwudibonye and Matt Davis had eight points each for the Pirates (18-8, 5-1).

The Hornets opened the game with a 12-3 run highlighted by Johnson’s slam dunk on an alley-oop pass from McIntosh. They closed out the first half with a 12-5 run that concluded with another dunk by Johnson off of McIntosh’s lob pass.

In between, Orange Coast played its best basketball, going on an 11-5 spurt. After Spencer called a timeout with the Pirates down, 12-3, Reggie Brown nailed a three-pointer, Ortiz had a pair of put-backs and Steve Cornett made a fast-break layup off a pass from Ortiz following an Okwudibonye block.

The Pirates pulled to within 17-14 before the Hornets clamped down on defense, started attacking the basket on offense and went on another run.

Earl and Johnson took over the game inside early in the second half as Fullerton quickly pulled away.

“We let our bad offensive play bleed into our defensive effort,” Spencer said. “We died right in the middle, the heart of our defense, and you can’t do that.”

The Pirates get the Hornets at home Feb. 17 in the regular season finale for both teams.

“We can’t let them get to the paint like we did tonight,” Spencer said.

“Definitely when we play them in the second half of conference it’ll be a different story,” Ortiz said.

Orange Coast Conference

Fullerton 70,

Orange Coast 45

Score by Halves