Fullerton Closes Out at Home by Drilling Long Beach, 93-70

Eugene Jackson may never have been happier to call a timeout than he was with 1:16 to play in Cal State Fullerton’s game against Cal State Long Beach Saturday in Titan Gym.

It was the last home game in the careers of Jackson and the four other Titan seniors, and as it turned out, they got to watch its end in style--from the bench, victorious.

When Jackson called that final timeout, a wide smile on his face, the Titans led by 27 points. Time for a nice ovation. Time, as they say, for some wholesale substitutions.

Long Beach may have had the highlight of its season Thursday, when it upset Nevada Las Vegas. Saturday, it was Fullerton’s turn, and the Titans responded with a 93-70 blowout of the 49ers in front of 2,305 in Titan Gym.

It marked the end of what has been a difficult regular season for Jackson and the other seniors--Vincent Blow, Oval Miller, Richard Morton and Henry Turner.

Fullerton lost seven straight games earlier this season and has struggled to its worst record in seven seasons.

But Saturday, in a game that was preceded by introductions of the seniors and their parents, the Titans put on what was easily their best performance of the year.

“No question,” said George McQuarn, Fullerton coach. “We cannot play any better.”

The Titans (11-16 overall, 7-11 in the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn.) jumped out to a 10-point lead midway through the first half and withstood a Long Beach run that cut it to four to lead by eight at halftime.

Less than six minutes into the second half, Fullerton led by 18, and Long Beach was never close again.

It was the highlight of a late-season run in which the Titans won five of their last six games and seven of their last 11.

Long Beach (17-10, 11-7) never seemed to have much of a chance.

“I thought our season went one game too long,” said Joe Harrington, Cal State Long Beach coach.

Although Fullerton won by 23 points, each team scored 26 field goals, and Long Beach made eight three-pointers, compared to one by Fullerton. The difference? Fullerton made 40 free throws in 50 attempts, both school records. Long Beach made 10 of 16.

Part of the discrepancy was caused by the 49ers’ persistence in fouling down the stretch. Long Beach continued fouling until just eight seconds remained in the game, committing eight fouls in the final 1:15 in an apparent attempt to narrow the margin.

Still, it was a trend that was set in the first half. The Titans made 18 of 22 in the half, and Long Beach made 4 of 5. Morton, who finished with 28 points, made 9 of 9 free throws in the first half and 13 of 14 in the game.

Fullerton made 54% of its field-goal attempts, compared to Long Beach’s 36%.

“We just were not ready to play mentally today,” Harrington said of his team, which was coming off a 79-77 victory over fifth-ranked UNLV in the Rebels’ Thomas & Mack Center.

“But I thought Fullerton played real well. They wanted to win it for their seniors. They shot real well and kicked our butts.”

Morlon Wiley, who scored 19 points for the 49ers but missed several minutes in the second half after he twisted his left ankle, said he tried to avoid having a letdown after the UNLV win.

“I tried to block that out,” he said. “Maybe I wanted it too much because I forced up a lot of shots.”

The once-intense rivalry between the schools has faded somewhat, but players on both teams were aware that it has been some time since Long Beach won a game in Titan Gym. The last 49er victory in the arena was in 1975, though Long Beach beat the Titans in a Fullerton home game in the Anaheim Convention Center in 1980.

Fullerton scored as many as 90 points only one other time this season, in a 106-60 victory over Brown in December.

“It was our last time in Titan Gym and it was an emotional experience for us,” said Turner, who scored 22 points and had 13 rebounds. Jackson scored 17, Blow had 5 and Miller, a reserve who started his final game, had 4.

“It feels great to finish up with a win--especially against Long Beach,” Morton said. “It wasn’t easy, but it got easy toward the end. It feels real strange to have played our last game here, but we just wanted to finish the year strong.”

Both teams will play in the PCAA tournament this week in the Forum. Fullerton, which will play Fresno State in the four-team first round Wednesday at 7 p.m., can go in with added momentum, but for Long Beach, it is a bit different.

“We’ll have to use this for motivation,” Harrington said. “We just can’t take it for granted that we can go out and win. We’re not that powerful a team.”

Still, it was a trend that was set in the first half. The Titans made 18 of 22 in the half, and Long Beach made 4 of 5. Morton, who finished with 28 points, made 9 of 9 free throws in the first half and 13 of 14 in the game.