END OF THE LINE : Fullerton’s Strong Finish Can’t Wipe Out a Season’s Struggles

It was not something Cal State Fullerton Coach George McQuarn would have said early in the season, nor even in the middle of it, but after the Titans’ season-ending 61-56 loss to Nevada Las Vegas in the quarterfinals of the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. tournament, it was time.

“When we got to the tournament, I think we were a pretty good basketball team,” McQuarn said.

As evidenced by a strong finish--six victories in the final eight games--Fullerton was a team playing to the best of its ability at the end.

“There’s no question that finishing up strong has been good for everyone,” McQuarn said. “I had good kids--kids who never gave up.”

The worst times in Fullerton’s 12-17 season--its first losing season since 1980-81, when the Titans went 4-23 in McQuarn’s first year as coach--came during a seven-game losing streak at the outset of PCAA play.

“It would be nice if you could forget the first round of conference play and just think about the way we played in the second round,” McQuarn said.

Before any Fullerton fans rally to the call of “Next Year,” there is a point of concern: The Titans were a senior-dominated team.

In losing Richard Morton and Henry Turner, Fullerton loses its second and fourth all-time leading scorers. Morton (1,705 points) is second only to Leon Wood (1,876). Greg Bunch (1,498) is third, and Turner (1,329) fourth.

Both were three-year starters, and together they scored 56% of Fullerton’s points this season.

When the Blue team, essentially the starters, beat the Orange team--the substitutes--by a score of 109-57 in a November scrimmage, it seemed to bode well for the Titans.

When McQuarn said, “We have a lot of work to do,” after the scrimmage, at least one person listening smiled. That seemed hard to believe after watching Turner score 40 points, many of them on spectacular dunks, and knowing that PCAA coaches had picked the Titans to finish third in the conference.

As it turned out, the scrimmage spoke not so much of the excellence of the starters as to the shortcomings of the subs. The Fullerton team was long on talent in Morton and Turner but short just about everywhere else.

It was clear that it was going to be tough going for the Titans from the start, after they lost to Montana and Weber State in their first two games. They finished the nonconference season 4-5, and McQuarn had little confidence going into the PCAA season.

“We are not ready for PCAA play,” he said then, and he knew what he was talking about.

The Titans lost their next seven.

What was almost worse was that they were almost all close. A seven-point loss to Cal State Long Beach, a four-point loss to New Mexico State. Some were not so close--by eight to UC Irvine, and by 12 to UC Santa Barbara.

A 63-57 loss to UNLV in Titan Gym that Fullerton probably came as close to winning as a missed 17-foot jumper by Turner with 12 seconds left. A three-point loss to Utah State that unfolded in part because Morton called a timeout in the waning minutes when Fullerton had none left, resulting in a technical foul. A five-point loss to San Jose State.

Seven straight.

But what could have been a completely dismal season turned around in the late going. Long after they had assured themselves of a losing season, the Titans pulled together and won six of their last eight.

They hardly could have hoped for more.

Although they beat only Fresno State and the University of the Pacific in the first round of conference play, the Titans beat San Jose State, Utah State, Pacific, New Mexico State and Long Beach in the second round.

The 80-77 victory over Utah State was a sizeable upset--the Aggies finished second in the PCAA regular season, won the tournament and will play in the NCAA tournament beginning this week. And the 93-70 blowout of Long Beach was a more than fitting and pleasant way for Fullerton’s seniors to end their Titan Gym careers.

Fullerton beat Fresno State in the first round of the PCAA tournament, then gave UNLV a scare before the season ended.

That Fullerton had such a difficult season with players of Morton’s and Turner’s ability was hard to fathom. There were Morton’s flurries of three-pointers, Turner’s spectacular dunks and often acrobatic inside play.

Besides Morton and Turner, the Titans lost Vincent Blow, the unsteady player who became their center and by the end of the season was playing the best of his career, and Eugene Jackson, the point guard who fought for his job most of his career and ended with several strong scoring performances.

The only returning starter will be Van Anderson, a 6-4 guard who found himself starting at small forward, and who averaged just 5.5 points.

Among the substitutes, one-time starter Bobby Adair had the highest scoring average--4.6.

Hard to imagine, but next year’s Titans have a tough act to follow.