Fullerton Beats Long Beach : Titans Lose Big Lead but Win in Overtime, 85-80

For the second time in less than 48 hours, the Cal State Fullerton Titans watched (they certainly weren’t doing much playing at the time) a big lead evaporate in the second half, and when Cal State Long Beach’s DeAnthony Langston hit a short baseline jumper to send Saturday’s game into overtime, the Titans had to be experiencing a sickening feeling of deja vu.

Thursday night, Fullerton lost a 13-point lead over New Mexico State and then their Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. opener when the Aggies rallied for a 68-61 overtime win.

Saturday’s game at Titan Gym was beginning to look like a day-old instant replay. But the Titans, who blew a 16-point second-half advantage this time, bounced back in overtime and came away with an 85-80 conference win over the 49ers. Fullerton is 1-1 in the PCAA and 8-6 overall. Long Beach is 0-1 in conference and 4-8 on the season.

A couple of weeks ago, when the Titans were 7-3 and had averaged 93 points in five straight wins, the idea of splitting their first two conference games--both at home against decidedly second-division PCAA opponents--was not to be considered a possibility. In the Titans’ defense, however, they are not the same team since Dec. 21, when senior point guard Kevin Henderson went down with a sprained ankle and broken foot that will keep him out of action for at least three more conference games.

Fullerton Coach George McQuarn has used Henderson’s absence as a motivational tool, and the team has responded with inspired performances in the early going of all three Henderson-less outings. While they seem to have been able to overcome the loss of his 20 points per game and his leadership, they are barely able to get by with one fewer player.

Sophomore guard Richard Morton continues to provide the needed offense. He had a career-high 32 points Saturday, hitting 11 of 18 shots from the floor. And Herman Webster has emerged to give Fullerton an added dimension inside. Saturday, Webster scored 17 points and grabbed 7 rebounds.

But the Titans earn most of their victories with their intense, man-to-man defense. And lately, they have been running out of gas in the second half. Saturday, only seven Titans played more than two minutes, and the reserves accounted for just two points (a pair of clutch overtime free throws by Alexander Hamilton).

Long Beach Coach Ron Palmer used nine players extensively, and his bench scored 31 points.

“You can’t take anything away from what the Long Beach players accomplished,” McQuarn said. “They kept fighting and fighting . . . they were the aggressors in the second half.

“We were playing safe, tentative, trying not to lose. But we’re a very different team without Kevin, and even though we’ve played very hard, fatigue starts to become a factor.”

The Titans were breezing, 58-44, with 12:17 to play when they lapsed into a daydream-like state. The 49ers began to grab every rebound and loose ball and started running past Fullerton players as if they were standing still.

Brothers Stafford and Stephan Hamlin, both of whom fouled out in the final three minutes, combined to score 14 points before exiting and helped lift the 49ers back into the game. Guard Billy Walker, who led Long Beach with 15 points, also hit a key three-pointer and three free throws during the rally.

The Titans scored only two points--a pair of free throws by Kerry Boagni--in the final five minutes of regulation.

“The key to the game today was our first-half play,” Palmer said. “Had we played in the first half the way we did in the second, I think we’ve got ourselves a ballgame.”

The 1,327 in Titan Gym who decided to watch the Titans and 49ers instead of the Rams and Cowboys, figured it was a ballgame. After all, it was decided in overtime.

“We really wanted to jump up on them right away in the overtime,” Morton said. “We wanted to get on them just like we did in the first 10-15 minutes of the game.”

Morton, who took an extra 40 minutes of shooting practice Friday afternoon, hit two medium-range jumpers and four free throws in the extra period. Webster scored on a pair of short bank shots, one of which he tossed up left-handed.

“We’re sort of like a team in early December,” McQuarn said. “We’re still making adjustments, trying to get everyone in sync again.”

Right now, he’ll settle for a win. With a three-game trip to Utah State, San Jose State and University of the Pacific coming up next week, he might not see another one before Henderson gets back in uniform.