Titans, in Search of Win 2, Travel to New Orleans

Cal State Fullerton, just two days after its first victory of the season, tonight will face the University of New Orleans, a team that has returned much of the cast that went 26-4 last year and made it to the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Fullerton, which lost to Big Sky Conference opponents Montana and Weber State in its first two games, easily beat winless Portland Thursday, despite playing without Henry Turner. Turner, a swingman who was the team’s second-leading scorer last season, tore ligaments in his foot against Weber State last week and will miss at least another week.

Richard Morton, last season’s leading scorer, is averaging 26 points, and guard Eugene Jackson is coming off a career-high 20-point performance against Portland.

The Titans, who had struggled offensively in their first two games, shot 61% from the field against Portland, 19 percentage points better than their average in the first two games.

Fullerton also appears to have settled on a starting lineup for now, going with Morton, Jackson, Bobby Adair and Oval Miller, with Van Anderson filling in for Turner.

Ledell Eackles and Sam Jones, forwards averaging more than 20 points, have led New Orleans (1-1), which beat McNeese State but lost to Bradley, 111-94.

The biggest difference between this Privateer team and last season’s is the absence of Coach Benny Dees, now at Wyoming. Art Tolis, an assistant under Dees, is the new coach.

The game starts at 5:30 p.m. PST and will be broadcast on KMNY (1600 AM) from Lakefront Arena.