Titans Let a Victory Slip Away : New Orleans Wins in Double Overtime, 66-65

The one player Cal State Fullerton really and truly cannot do without ran up and down the court Tuesday night, a perplexed and frustrated expression on his face.

Fullerton knew a night would come when Cedric Ceballos would have a bad game. That night came Tuesday against New Orleans. Ceballos, who had led Fullerton in scoring in every game this season, averaging 25 points, was off.

Way off.

He made 1 of 12 shots from the field, and was 0 of 4 from the line.

Despite that, Fullerton had its chances, but let them all get away.

The last one came with time running out in a second overtime, when Fullerton failed to heed Coach John Sneed’s second request in the final minute for a timeout. Instead, Wayne Williams launched a desperation shot, and New Orleans took a 66-65 double-overtime victory in front of 1,150 in Titan Gym.

Fullerton had the ball and a 65-64 lead with 22 seconds left, but Mark Hill threw a pass out of bounds as Sneed was calling for a timeout.

“I was trying to call a timeout when Mark threw the ball away,” Sneed said. “At that point I thought we had the game won.”

New Orleans used its final timeout, and Tony Harris hit a 12-foot shot with 4 seconds left.

New Orleans had come from an 8-point second-half deficit to take a 48-46 lead with 3 minutes left in regulation. Fullerton tied the score on Derek Jones’ short turnaround off a pass from Marlon Vaughn with 2:36 remaining. New Orleans had the ball with 40 seconds remaining but held the ball too long to get off a good shot. Two desperation attempts--the last one from 25 feet--were no good, sending the game into overtime.

Fullerton took a 55-51 lead in the first overtime on Hill’s 3-pointer, but a 3-pointer by Robert Hokett cut it to 55-54. The Titans still led, 57-54, after Vaughn hit 2 free throws with 23 seconds left. But New Orleans’ Leonard Bennett went to the line with 10 seconds left after Vaughn fouled him trying for the rebound of a New Orleans miss. Trailing by 3 with no timeouts remaining, Bennett made the first and missed the second, giving New Orleans a chance at a rebound basket to tie the score. On the second tip, Willie Richardson lofted a shot and John Sykes was called for goaltending, tying the score at 57-57 with 5 seconds left. Fullerton’s desperation shot by Hill from 30 feet was off.

“Sykes got some key rebounds, but he made two bad defensive plays that hurt us. That (goaltending) killed us,” Sneed said.

Sykes and Marlon Vaughn each had 14 points for Fullerton, a career high for Sykes.

Ceballos finished with 2.

“Cedric’s problem wasn’t the opponent as much as himself,” Sneed said. “He must realize opposing coaches are going to try to shut him down. He’s going to have to get through that.”

The loss was Fullerton’s second successive after a 5-1 start.

“Ceballos couldn’t get himself going,” Sneed said. “That’s part of being a player. Some nights you have to help your team in other aspects of the game than scoring. . . . I didn’t feel he was as emotional as I like to see a player before a game. You can’t play relaxed when they’re coming at you.”

Ceballos left the locker room without speaking to reporters.

This was a game that Fullerton could have been expected to win, but the Titans were somewhat discombobulated by New Orleans’ deliberate style, as well as surprised at the Privateers’ ability to hit 3-pointers. They came up with 3 3-pointers in the second half, something Fullerton hadn’t anticipated.

“They played four guards and a small forward, and it was tough for us to match up in a man,” said Sneed, who sent his team against New Orleans in a 1-3-1 zone. “They are very disciplined and milk the clock.”

It was definitely a game Fullerton could have won.

“After we heard the scouting report and saw the film, we were looking forward to a victory,” said Jones, who finished with 8 points. “We didn’t think we would blow them out, but we knew we could win.”

Ceballos, Jones said, clearly was frustrated.

“We knew sooner or later it would happen, and we hoped the rest of us would pick up,” Jones said. “Sykes and Vaughn did a good job, but we couldn’t do it. We thought we were going to pull it out, but our lack of experience showed, especially when we tried to call a timeout (but didn’t). . . . Confusion, lack of experience. Those things happen.”