Titans Lose to Utah St., 73-63 : Offenses Fail to Deliver Goods; Neal Held to 4 Points

The Cal State Fullerton basketball game at Utah State Thursday was expected to showcase four of the Pacific Athletic Assn.’s top six scorers.

Furthermore, the prolific Aggies are known to score as well as allow points by the truck-load. Their team scoring average of 88 points a game is second-highest in the nation.

But that all proved to be another case of false advertising.

The fantastic shootout failed to materialize as the Aggies transformed a four-point lead with two minutes left into a mundane, 73-63 victory.

Fullerton remains in sole possession of third place at 9-5 (13-10 overall), while Utah State is tied for fourth with UC Santa Barbara at 7-6 (14-8).

The big four--Fullerton’s Tony Neal and Kevin Henderson and Utah State’s Greg Grant and Vince Washington--put in their scheduled appearance, but their much-admired shooting skills were missing in action.

Altogether, the four wound up 32 points below their collective season averages.

Grant, the Aggie forward who scored 46 points in two games last week, had a modest 13 Thursday.

Washington, who averages 23 points a game, managed 16, but heappeared frustrated due to his 38% shooting from the field (5 of 13).

But Fullerton carried the bulk of the offensive recession. Henderson, who averages 16.5 points, scored 12, but team leader Neal suffered through his fourth straight sub-par performance since his alleged kidnapping Feb. 9.

He was 2 of 13 from the field for a total of four points, being shut out entirely in the second half.

Neal was averaging 18 points and almost 12 rebounds prior to Feb. 9. In the last four games, two of which included his struggle with the flu, he has had a scoring average of nine and a rebounding average of eight.

He did have some company in the doldrums. Forward Kerry Boagni, the Titans’ third-leading scorer with an average of 12, also scored just 4 points, and none in the second half.

“I thought we played well for 38 minutes,” Titan Coach George McQuarn said. “We got many of the shots we wanted out of our offense, but we missed a lot of easy baskets.

“(But) I think it’s kind of hard to win big when neither Neal nor Boagni scores in the second half.”

The player who hauled the rest of the Titans along with him Thursday was freshman Richard Morton, who came off the bench to score 19 points, his second highest total of the year. His finest game was Saturday against UC Santa Barbara, when he scored 21.

“Morton was the best player on the floor for us tonight,” McQuarn said.

But Morton couldn’t catch the Aggies alone.

Utah State had a 39-37 halftime lead and Jeff J. Anderson, who scored a total of 27 points, and Bill Floyd, who scored a late 11, helped the Aggies pull away.

Fullerton had a chance to move back within a point with two minutes left and Utah State leading, 64-60. But Neal missed an inside shot, and Floyd immediately replied with a three-pointer. Anderson followed up with a baseline drive with 46 seconds left for a 69-60 margin.

Then he and Washington were each fouled and made two free throws apiece. Gary Davis’ three-point jumper ended the game. Fresno State 61, New Mexico State 53--Senior guard Mitch Arnold and junior forward Jos Kuipers scored 12 points apiece to lead the Bulldogs past the Aggies at Las Cruces, N.M.

Fresno State boosted its record to 16-6 overall and 11-2 in the PCAA. New Mexico State suffered its ninth consecutive loss, skidding to 6-16 overall and 3-10 in the conference.

The Bulldogs led at halftime, 26-21, but the Aggies pulled into a 36-36 tie on three-point basket by Orlando Febres with 10:48 remaining in the game.

Fresno State used its inside strength and regained the lead on a jumper by Arnold with 9:08 left and the Bulldogs led for the remainder of the contest.

Fresno State shot 52% from the field in the second half, compared with 29% for New Mexico State.

New Mexico State guard Gilbert Wilburn led all scorers with 22 points, while Febres added 17 for the Aggies.