Fullerton Opens Conference Play With Victory

Fullerton, which failed to win an Orange Empire Conference men’s basketball game last season, got its first conference victory of the season in dramatic fashion.

Ty-Juan Berry drove for a lay-in with two seconds left to give the Hornets a 71-70 victory over host Cypress Wednesday in the conference opener.

The basket completed an 11-0 run by Fullerton (8-9, 1-0) in the final 5 minutes 2 seconds.

Before that, Cypress (8-8, 0-1) had leads of six and 10 points, including 44-36 at the half, thanks to a solid passing game that led to several open shots.

Meanwhile, Fullerton was searching for a consistent offense and the right combination of players.

“We’ve been waiting for our guys to figure it out,” Fullerton Coach Dieter Horton said. “We’ve lost five games in the same fashion this season, but tonight they figured it out.”

Cypress helped Fullerton along by missing the front end of three key one-and-one free throws in the final 1:02.

Berry finished with seven of Fullerton’s final 11 and also had a game-high 19. He had 14 in the second half and was eight of 12 on free throws in the game.