McQuarn Reshuffles, Deals Fullerton Past San Diego, 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 top 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 victory over the Toreros in front of 1,873 at Titan Gym.

The Titans did it with defense in the opinion of USD Coach Hank Egan.

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

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

Settled in? The Toreros virtually dug in underneath and their front line looked like it was taking a layup drill after the intermission as USD shot 82% in the second half to cut a Fullerton lead that reached 15 points early in the second half to just five with 6:17 left.

But Henderson, who took off his sweats after five minutes on the bench and got a total of 25 minutes of playing time, took control and scored five of the Titans’ last nine points as Fullerton held on.

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.

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

The Titan Combo of the moment has Herman Webster, a 6-6 1/2 junior transfer from San Diego Mesa College, starting in place of Pitts, whose departure apparently took everyone by surprise.

Webster, who had a total of 14 minutes playing time in the Titans’ first five games, scored six points but couldn’t get a rebound away from the seven-foot Thompson, who scored 19 points and grabbed nine rebounds.