Turner, Morton Lead Fullerton Over Fresno in PCAA Opener, 65-47

Folks here used to call Selland Arena “Grant’s Tomb” because, under Coach Boyd Grant, it was where Fresno State’s opponents came to get buried.

But Grant decided last spring that being a college basketball coach was wearing on his psyche and he resigned, leaving his former counterparts in the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. to wonder what will happen when you take the Grant out of Grant’s Tomb.

Cal State Fullerton became the first PCAA team to find out Saturday night. The results indicate that the Bulldogs and the arena they inhabit have lost some of their bite.

Henry Turner and Richard Morton had 18 points each to lead Fullerton to a 65-47 victory before 10,132 spectators in the PCAA opener for both teams. It was the Titans’ third win in their last four visits to Selland Arena, and it left them with an overall record of 8-2.

Morton’s performance was nearly identical to the one he had in last season’s 67-58 victory here. He was 7 of 12 from the field and scored 18 points in that game. This time, he was 7 of 11 from the floor, and equaled his scoring output. This after a nightmarish game at UCLA in which he was 3 of 13 shooting. But Morton said he finds Selland a nice place to visit.

“To tell you the truth, I like this place,” he said. “I’ve had good games here in the past, and I like shooting here.”

A Fresno opponent making himself at home in what was once a haunted house?

Grant’s teams made Selland Arena a black hole in the San Joaquin Valley during his nine seasons as the Bulldogs coach, compiling a 113-17 at home.

But the Red Wave, the Fresno fans who used to make Selland tremble, has been reduced to a ripple. Their beloved coach called it quits after his team went 15-15 last season, and there appears to be little immediate hope for his successor.

Ron Adams, Grant’s longtime assistant, has inherited a team of not-so-sharp shooters. The Bulldogs came into Saturday night’s game shooting 42% from the field. Against the Titans, they were a chilly 18 of 48 (37%). Sophomore center Rene Ebeltjes, whom Adams recruited from Holland with the hope that he would provide some needed scoring, picked up his third foul less than five minutes into the game and was held to two points.

Fullerton Coach George McQuarn had cause to wonder how his team would hold up in what are supposed to be hostile surroundings, particularly after last Monday’s 72-71 loss to UCLA in Pauley Pavilion. He got the answer in the first half. The Titans turned an uncomfortable, three-point lead into a cushy, 35-20 halftime advantage by outscoring Fresno, 16-4, over the final eight minutes of the first half.

Turner and Webster combined for 19 of the Titans’ first-half points. The Bulldogs (0-1, 5-7), who had showed signs of coming out of a season-long shooting slump in last Tuesday’s 61-54 upset of West Virginia, reverted to form, shooting 44% (8 of 18) from the field in the first half.

Fresno cut the lead to 11 early in the second half but could get no closer. Morton scored 13 points in the second half.

Meanwhile, the Bulldogs missed 20 more shots than they made (10 of 30), and such numbers do not lend themselves well to comebacks.

“I think that may have been as well as we’ve played all year,” McQuarn said. “I thought, because of our defense, Fresno had to go into some things that they ordinarily wouldn’t go into.”