Fullerton Presses for Win Over USD : Titans Overcome Loss of Pitts, Toreros’ Inside Play, 78-66

Cal State Fullerton’s best inside player, Carl Pitts, quit the team Tuesday afternoon, and the Titans’ best guard, Kevin Henderson, didn’t start Tuesday night because he was late for the pregame team meal.

If the Titans were a bit dazed before the game, the University of San Diego’s best three players--forwards Mark Manor and Nils Madden and center Scott Thompson--soon had them reeling, shooting a combined 23 of 28 from the floor.

Somehow, though, Fullerton managed to salvage its home opener with a 78-66 nonconference win over the Toreros in front of 1,873 at Titan Gym. Fullerton is 3-3. USD is 3-2.

Never mind the shooting percentages, the Titans won this one with defense. At least that’s the way Toreros Coach Hank Egan saw it.

“That’s by far the quickest team we’ve played,” Egan said. “Their quickness made it a struggle for us to get into our offense.

“I didn’t think we played badly . . . to say the least. But they really got after us in the first half with their pressure, and we didn’t really settle into the game until the second half.”

Settle in? The Toreros were entrenched underneath, and their front line looked as if it was taking a layup drill most of the second half. USD shot 82% in the second half to cut a Fullerton lead that reached 15 points to just five with 6:17 left to play.

But Henderson, who took off his sweats after five painful minutes on the bench and eventually played 25 minutes, took control. He scored 5 of the Titans’ last 9 points as Fullerton held off USD.

The Titans, who made 16 of 23 free throws, hit 9 of 10 in the final six minutes to preserve the victory.

Henderson finished with 14 points. Kerry Boagni led Fullerton with 18 points and 12 rebounds.

“I’m still really, really concerned with our rebounding,” Fullerton Coach George McQuarn said. “It’s pretty scary when your No. 3 man (wing player Boagni) leads in rebounding instead of your quote, power, unquote, players.

“But we’re still a young team, searching for the right combinations and learning to play together.”

Herman Webster, a 6-6 1/2 junior transfer from San Diego Mesa College, started in place of Pitts.

Webster, who had played 14 minutes in the Titans’ first five games, scored six points but couldn’t get a rebound away from the 7-0 Thompson, who scored 19 points and grabbed 9 rebounds.

“We had no idea he was that good,” McQuarn said of Thompson. “He really hurt us. We played behind him most of the time, but he’d just turn and shoot over us. Nothing slowed him until he picked up that fourth foul (with 6:04 to go).”

Egan then removed Thompson from the game--for 39 seconds. The Toreros’ offense was clearly not the same without their big man (260 pounds) in the middle. Thompson scored 13 points in the second half and was almost single-handedly responsible for the Toreros’ rally.

With 11:39 remaining and Fullerton leading, 51-39, he posted up and hit three straight turnaround jumpers from about 10 feet out, fed Madden for a layup, tipped in Mark Bostic’s miss and then again passed to Madden, whose layup reduced the Titan lead to 6. Thompson also led the Toreros with 6 assists.

Madden was 6 for 6 from the field and 2 for 2 at the free-throw line. Manor was 9 for 11 from the field, finishing with 19.

The rest of the USD lineup contributed 14 points . . . and 11 turnovers.