Defense Paves the Way for a 58-46 Fullerton Victory Over Fresno St.

Most were in agreement that Cal State Fullerton played some of its best defense in weeks Saturday night against Fresno State. It seemed almost a shame to waste it.

Fullerton’s 58-46 victory in front of 2,948 spectators in Titan Gym reminded Coach George McQuarn of the team he watched devastate opponents with defense back in December. But Fresno State hasn’t been a difficult team to defend lately. This is a team that has trouble shooting in pregame warmups.

The Bulldogs’ defense still frustrates, but their offense leaves many points to be desired. And, away from home, they are as tame as can be.

The Bulldogs entered Titan Gym with a four-game losing streak and the knowledge that they are in grave danger of missing the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. postseason tournament for the first time in seven seasons. They left with their 10th straight road defeat.

The Bulldogs haven’t won on the road since their last visit to Titan Gym last Feb. 8. Saturday night’s loss was their fifth straight and provided further evidence that first-year Coach Ron Adams must make recruiting some shooters his top priority.

“It’s a pattern that we haven’t been a good shooting team or a good passing team,” Adams said. “(But) if this team could shoot well, we’d get over the rough spots.”

Fresno State (2-8, 7-14) shot a combined 35% from the field in losing four straight. Against Fullerton, the Bulldogs shot 26% in the first half and trailed by 26 points by the middle of the second. The only suspense to the final 10 minutes was whether the Bulldogs would be able to exceed the 41-point mark, their previous low for a game this season. They did, with 49 seconds to play.

Forward Henry Turner had 16 points and 14 rebounds and guard Richard Morton had 14 points to lead Fullerton (3-6, 10-8) to its second straight victory after six straight defeats. McQuarn didn’t particularly care that it came against a team that sets the standard in the PCAA for offensive ineptness.

“There’s nothing like winning,” McQuarn said. “It’s a penicillin for the disease of losing. And we got a shot of it the other night against UOP.”

For a while, it looked as if the Titans would get an overdose against Fresno State. Taking advantage of a Fresno cold streak in which the Bulldogs went more than six minutes without scoring, the Titans went on a 14-0 scoring spurt to take a 25-13 halftime lead. Jervis Cole hit a 14-foot jump shot to tie it at 11 with 8:28 left in the half. The Bulldogs didn’t get another basket until Mike Mitchell got free for a reverse layup 12 seconds before intermission.

Fresno went another seven minutes between field goals early in the second half and, before the Titans knew it, they were lounging rather comfortably on a 48-22 lead.

“We had about an eight- to 10-minute spurt in the second half where we looked like the old Titans,” McQuarn said. “I liked our intensity. It’s still not where it was in December, but it’s better than it was.”

There has been a number of theories put forth as to why the Titans had such an enjoyable December and such a lousy January. A sick coach. Sick players. A sick halfcourt offense. Junior forward Derek Jones, who had 9 points and 5 rebounds against Fresno, has a theory of his own.

“It was just an attitude,” he said. “We kind of took a lot for granted, since things had been going so well for us. We just had a dead period.”

McQuarn saw some signs of life against Fresno. “We were playing like we did in December,” he said. “We scored out of our defense. We played with confidence.”

The Bulldogs played timidly. A couple of more losses like this one and they might as well roll over and play dead.