Nevada Las Vegas Beats Fullerton, 73-65 : Technical Foul on Titan Assistant Coach Helps Runnin’ Rebels Prevail

The game Cal State Fullerton had been waiting for finally arrived Monday night. Unfortunately for the Titans, it came at a time when they would rather be playing No-Name Tech, and when their coach would rather be home wrapped in blankets.

But the Titans were playing Nevada Las Vegas, no longer top-ranked, no longer unbeaten, but still about the only team in the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. that isn’t running in place.

Fullerton stayed close. The Titans even had a one-point lead with 8:41 to play. But the Rebels, with the help of a crushing technical foul against Fullerton, pulled away in the final five minutes to record a 73-65 win in front of a capacity-plus crowd of 4,234 in Titan Gym.

Freddie Banks had a game-high 22 points, and Armon Gilliam added 18 to give the Rebels their fifth straight PCAA win. Fullerton, which not long ago figured to have the best chance of any conference team of challenging the Rebels, is now the unlikely occupant of last place in the PCAA standings at 1-4.

Las Vegas Coach Jerry Tarkanian, who saw his team lose its first game of the season Saturday at Oklahoma, said he had been fearing the game against the Titans for weeks.

“I told our kids yesterday, and I mean this sincerely, two weeks ago, I thought this was the toughest game on our schedule,” he said. “Fullerton’s had some illness, and they’re not the same team they were two weeks ago. But I think they’re one of the 20 best teams in the country. I’ve voted them that way every week.”

So Tarkanian was not surprised to find Fullerton threatening to catch his Runnin’ Rebels late in the game. Neither was he disappointed when referee Dave Libbey called a technical foul on Fullerton assistant coach John Sneed with 5:19 to play and the Titans closing in.

Here is how the Titans got technical: Trailing, 64-60, with the basketball, the Titans called a timeout. Sneed, apparently upset over the lack of a foul call underneath the Las Vegas basket, voiced his displeasure as the teams went to their respective benches. As the Titans huddled around their coaching staff, Libbey, standing at midcourt, blew his whistle. He then walked over to the Fullerton huddle, and worked his way up to Sneed’s face to inform him of the technical foul.

Banks hit the ensuing two free throws to extend Las Vegas’ lead to 66-60. The Rebels also got the ball, and got a quick basket from Gilliam that made it 68-60. It was a four-point turnaround from which the Titans never fully recovered.

“I thought it was very, very big,” said Fullerton Coach George McQuarn, who is still trying to recover from bronchial pneumonia. “I just looked into my kids’ eyes and saw that it affected them. It was hard for them to come back after that.”

Tarkanian said he knew he was in for a close game in the first half, when the Titans committed 17 turnovers and still managed to stay in the game.

The Rebels turned down the crowd volume early in the first half. With the help of four straight Fullerton turnovers, Las Vegas had a 15-5 lead less than four minutes into the game. Gerald Paddio scored eight of those points, the last two of which came on a steal and slam dunk that prompted McQuarn to call timeout to attempt to calm down the frantic Titans.

Fullerton kept the Rebels from running away with it early, and made a run of its own near the end of the half. Trailing, 36-27, with 3:40 left, the Titans scored eight straight points, and they did it with flair. Oval Miller slammed down an offensive rebound to make it 37-28. Henry Turner stole the ball and took it in for a reverse slam to make it 37-30, then inspired the crowd with a spinning 360-degree dunk. Alexander Hamilton, who finished with 11 points on 5 of 7 shooting, made it 37-34 with a bank shot off a fast break.

But Las Vegas scored the last seven points of the half and left the floor with a 44-34 lead.