Cal State Fullerton Notebook / Robyn Norwood : Nothing Seems to Be Bothering the Titans This Season

Two things that meant trouble for last year’s Cal State Fullerton basketball team--close games and road games--have been kind to the Titans so far this year.

They already have won three games on the road. Last year, they won only one, beating Pacific in late February.

And already they have won three close games, beating Utah, San Diego and Portland in games that were settled in the final 2 minutes.

Their only loss was a close one, a 4-point decision against Pepperdine. But it came at home.

How to explain it?

One vague theory is that some of Fullerton’s key new players are used to winning, and that somehow helps them win more.

Freshman point guard Wayne Williams’ Manual Arts High School team went 27-3 last year, winning the state championship.

“I played in front of a lot of people in the state championship last year, and a lot of them pulling for the other team,” Williams said. “So I don’t worry about the crowd.”

Cedric Ceballos, the junior forward who has led the Titans in scoring in all four games, played last year for Ventura College, a team that went 23-10.

“I always think we can win, no matter how far we get down,” Ceballos said.

Junior guard Mark Hill, who played on an L.A. Harbor College team that went 19-10, confided in Ceballos before the season that the Titans had better win, because he wasn’t sure he could stand to lose all the time.

Coach John Sneed doesn’t altogether agree with the idea that winning somehow makes winners.

“They have learned to be competitive,” Sneed said. “And I think because of their competitive spirit they can get down and don’t throw in the towel. . . . But that doesn’t always mean you win. Some kids are just scrappers. They might be competitive players and still be .500. Because they’re winners doesn’t mean they have 30-0 records.”

And his Titans?

“They’re trying to get there,” Sneed said. “I’m not overconfident because we’re 4-1. I think there’s still a lot of untapped potential on this team. We’re a long ways still from being where we want to. . . . If we don’t improve, we could still lose our fair share of ballgames.”

College athletes in new sports cars have a way of drawing attention.

But rest assured that Fullerton reserve guard Randal Moos got his legitimately--if luckily.

Moos, a senior, won a Volkswagen Cabriolet Monday in a national promotional contest for college students selling used books.

Two cars were given away across the country, Moos said he was told. Two students in 5 million.

“I got a game stub when I sold my books,” Moos said. “I didn’t think much of it at first. But then they told me I’d won a car worth $20,000 . . . I still haven’t realized it. Maybe in a couple of weeks, or when I get the car.”

Moos clearly is a fortunate fellow. Last week, he won a wallet--but an empty one--in the same contest.

“That was no big deal,” he said.

The car, he admits, is quite a big deal.

Although athletes are prohibited by NCAA regulations from accepting prizes from school-sponsored contests such as shooting contests, a game of luck sponsored by an outside organization and open to all students does not seem to be a violation.

Unusual stat: Moos has scored 15 points in his Titan career, but has never scored a 2-point basket or a free throw. What gives? He has hit five 3-pointers, his specialty.

Eli Rodriguez, the gymnast who is awaiting trial on a misdemeanor charge of aggravated assault, has been practicing with the team this month as the Titans prepare for the season, which begins in January.

Athletic Director Ed Carroll, who suspended Rodriguez from the team after he was arrested in the stabbing injury of former teammate Steve Ciccarelli, said he modified the suspension late last month after the charge was reduced to a misdemeanor. Rodriguez, whose trial has been postponed until Jan. 20, is still barred from competing, Carroll said.