Santa Monica Beats Fullerton in Overtime, 85-81

Confusion played a major role in Fullerton’s 85-81 overtime loss to Santa Monica in the first round of the Pasadena men’s basketball tournament Thursday.

Fullerton trailed, 81-78, when its full-court press forced a turnover with 20 seconds left in overtime. Levar Grace made a basket for the Hornets that the referee signaled was a three-pointer but the scoreboard operator recorded as a two-pointer.

The mistake went unnoticed partly because the Corsairs inbounded quickly, broke Fullerton’s press and scored on a Marrean Robottom layup for an 83-80 lead with 13 seconds left.

Fullerton, without a timeout, pushed the ball upcourt and tried to set up for a three-pointer but turned over the ball, resulting in an easy Santa Monica basket.

Fullerton freshman Chris Smith scored 34 points, making six three-pointers. Santa Monica had two chances to win in regulation but missed a free throw with 24 seconds left and a layup as time ran out.

Fullerton plays Golden West at 2 p.m. today in a consolation game. Golden West lost to Chaffey, 106-82, in the first round.

In another tournament game:

Santa Ana 84, Santa Barbara 53--A dunk by Greg Gray (20 points) gave Santa Ana a 36-9 lead with 6:19 left in the first half and Santa Barbara didn’t reach double figures until about two minutes later.