Shooting and Defense Win for Titans, 80-65

With 12:21 to play Saturday night and Cal State Fullerton already ahead, 55-35, Titan center Herman Webster tried a powerful slam dunk--and missed. But the ball bounced high off the rim and fell through the basket.

That was the kind of night it was for Cal State Long Beach.

Luck, though, had little to do with Fullerton’s 80-65 victory before a packed crowd of 2,207 in the 49er gym.

The Titans, who won their fifth straight game, did the job with a combination of outstanding shooting and defense.

Fullerton shot 54.5% from the field and got big games from guard Richard Morton, who scored 24 points, and forward Henry Turner, who scored 17.

“We played an outstanding game,’ said Fullerton Coach George McQuarn, whose team is 13-8 overall and 6-6 in the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. “We’ve turned it around. The team you see now is the one you saw in December.”

After three straight three-pointers by Morton had built a 35-21 lead, Fullerton settled for a 39-30 edge at halftime.

After intermission, the 49ers were never a factor against a hard, active defense.

“Our defense was good in the first half, even better in the second half,” McQuarn said.

It was so good that with seven minutes gone in the second half, Long Beach had scored four points. Turner, meanwhile, had scored six himself.

Six minutes later, Long Beach had scored only seven points and trailed, 64-37.

Long Beach guard Morlon Wiley, who had scored 32 points in his last game, was held to 11 and made only four of 12 field goal attempts.

“We did not work hard enough to win this game,” Long Beach Coach Ron Palmer said. “Maybe we underestimated how hard Fullerton does play.”

The 49ers, who have lost six straight times to Fullerton, dropped to 12-12 overall and 7-5 in the PCAA. They are still in second place by half a game but must play five of their remaining six games on the road.