Santa Barbara Defeats Fullerton Again

Coach George McQuarn said he doesn’t even remember Cal State Fullerton’s last game against UC Santa Barbara. Selective retention, perhaps?

McQuarn said he was so weakened by high fever brought on by bronchial pneumonia that his team’s Jan. 12 loss to the Gauchos was but a blur. He was fully recovered for Saturday night’s rematch but found the outcome no more memorable.

Santa Barbara guards Carrick DeHart and Brian Johnson combined to score 37 points and make 13 of 20 field goal attempts to lead the Gauchos to a 69-58 victory in a Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. game before a crowd of 3,786 at the Campus Events Center.

The win put the Gauchos--a team that failed to qualify for the PCAA postseason tournament last year--in an excellent position to finish second in the conference behind top-ranked Nevada Las Vegas, and moves them one step closer to their first winning season since 1975-76. With three games remaining, they are alone in second with an 8-7 conference record, 13-11 overall.

Fullerton dropped to 7-9 in PCAA play, 14-11 overall. McQuarn didn’t blame his players, instead crediting the play of the Gauchos.

“The way they played tonight, I imagine they would have beaten any team in the conference,” McQuarn said. “I can’t believe they’ve played better than that all year.”

The Gauchos shot 62% in the first half, 60% in the second, and held Fullerton to 40% for the game. The Titans kept waiting for Santa Barbara to hit a shooting lull, but one never came.

“Man, that was discouraging,” Fullerton center Herman Webster said. “There’s not much I can do to rebound when the majority of them were goin’ in. We had a hand in their face every time, but they kept knocking it down.”

DeHart and Johnson combined to make 6 of 8 three-point shots and score 27 points in the first half. That equaled Fullerton’s total first-half output. The Titans tried to adjust by extending their defense to take away three-point opportunities. Santa Barbara responded by simply taking the ball inside more often. Center Khris Fortson and forward Brian Vaughns combined for 17 points in the second half.

Santa Barbara led by as much as 19 in the second half before the Titans put together a modest comeback to cut the Gauchos’ lead to 61-54 with 2:50 to play on a steal and slam by Alexander Hamilton. But Fullerton guard Richard Morton, who finished with a game-high 20 points, missed two straight three-point attempts and DeHart connected on a 17-foot jumper with 2:04 left to help keep the lead secure.