A Recovering Fullerton Beats Fresno State, 67-58

Before the season began, both the coaches and the media figured Cal State Fullerton to be a middle-of-the-pack team in the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. But after the Titans had won five in a row to go 7-3, it looked as if they might make an impact in the conference.

Then Kevin Henderson broke his foot, Richard Morton severely sprained his ankle and the promise turned to frustration. So much frustration, in fact, that Coach George McQuarn announced his retirement effective at the season’s end.

Monday night at Selland Arena, Henderson saw his first action since Dec. 22, Morton made his first start since Jan. 11 and the “real” Kerry Boagni made an appearance as the Titans beat Fresno State, 67-58, in front of 10,132 unusually quiet Bulldog fans.

“Near the end of the game,” Fresno Coach Boyd Grant said, “I looked down the sidelines and said to myself, ‘I think the wrong guy is quitting.”

Grant’s lapse into depression can be excused. This was the Bulldogs’ fourth home loss this season, equaling the most losses in one season since the facility became known as Grant’s Tomb nine seasons ago. Fresno State, a perennial PCAA power, is 5-6 in conference play and 12-10 overall.

The Titans (5-6, 12-11) are hardly tearing up the conference, but Grant thinks that’s just a matter of bad luck.

“I think all of you can see how good Fullerton would have been if Henderson and Morton didn’t get hurt,” he said. “I’m not saying this because they just beat us, and I didn’t think it at the beginning of the season, either. But, in my opinion, you were looking at what should have been the second-best team in the West tonight. They’re certainly only second to UNLV in our league from a talent standpoint.”

Henderson, who says he’s playing at 60% or less, played just six minutes and was obviously limping, but Morton was 7 of 12 from the field (including two three-pointers) and finished with 18 points. And Boagni, who led the team in scoring five of the first six games before falling into a horrible shooting slump, connected on 5 of 7 three-point attempts and led all scorers with 22.

“I’ve got my confidence back, and confidence is everything for a shooter,” Boagni said. “I stopped listening to people who said I was a streak shooter and just started shooting again.”

The 6-foot 8-inch senior had one three-pointer and Morton had two as Fullerton took a 9-5 lead in the early going, and the stunned Fresno faithful must have been wondering if they were going to see the scoreboard jump in multiples of three all night. But Fresno, led by center Brian Salone and forward Jos Kuipers, rebounded to take a 28-26 lead by halftime.

A follow shot by sophomore forward Vincent Blow (who had nine points and eight rebounds), a steal and slam by Henry Turner and a Turner jumper put the Titans ahead, 39-32, with 14:52 remaining. But Kuipers, who finished with 19 points, hit a pair of three-pointers and the Bulldogs tied the game, 49-49, with 7:13 left.

The normally vociferous Red Wave finally got in the game, but Fullerton refused to fold. The Titans scored six straight, then maintained the margin and put the game away by making eight of eight free throws in the final 1:24. Two of those by Henderson increased the senior guard’s consecutive free-throw streak to 33.

“It’s just nice to see the floor again,” Henderson said.

These are the kinds of games that might make a lame duck coach want to reconsider, but McQuarn hasn’t changed his mind.

“We played with an air of confidence in the second half,” McQuarn said. “Even when we momentarily lost our poise we managed to regain it. When you come in here and play through that defense and that crowd . . . well, it’s a big, big win.”