Ceballos Gives In, Then Helps Titans Stop Pacific, 72-69

There may have been more valiant quests undertaken in Titan Gym Thursday night, but none as intriguingly quirky as the one staged by Cedric Ceballos.

Pacific was trying to break a losing streak that was up to 11 games this season, and had reached 22 games on the road over the past two years.

Ceballos was just trying to do his part for free speech.

Pacific failed, falling to Fullerton, 72-69, after Dell Demps missed a three-point attempt with 7 seconds left and the Tigers trailing by two.

As for Ceballos, he was benched at the start of the second half for refusing to remove a sweat band worn in honor of a teammate who was suspended for the game. But after sitting out the first 11 minutes 41 seconds, Ceballos relented and took off the sweat band--which was inscribed with the nickname and number of backup point guard Marlon Vaughn, suspended for one game after being asked to leave practice Wednesday.

Other players who had worn sweatbands or tape in honor of Vaughn had taken theirs off at Coach John Sneed’s request.

“I just held out,” Ceballos said. “Then I asked Marlon in the stands if it was OK to take it off. He said it was cool.”

So off it came, and into the game went Ceballos.

He finished with a team-high 19 points in 24 minutes.

Sneed, who said he had asked Vaughan to leave practice Wednesday--thereby forbidding him to dress for Thursday’s game by a standing team rule--wasn’t much amused by the protest.

“(Ceballos) wasn’t within our system,” Sneed said. “He’s got to understand we’ve got good players who can come in and replace him.”

Van Anderson, a player noted mostly for his defense, started the second half as a last-minute sub for Ceballos. He had been shooting only 19% from the field--including 0 for four from three-point range--but he hit three three-pointers and finished with 12 points.

Mark Hill added 16 points, but for the second game in a row, John Sykes had the winning basket, this time giving Fullerton a 71-69 lead when he hit a reverse layin off a feed from Ceballos.

Ceballos’ benching--for no apparent reason at the time--lent some intrigue to a game rather lacking in it.

“Tonight we were flat,” Sneed said.

For Pacific (5-19, 1-14), it was the seventh close loss of the streak, which now has grown to 12 games. Four have been in overtime--including an earlier game with Fullerton this season. Three have been by five or fewer points.

“That’s two tough games we’ve had against them,” Sneed said.

Early this season, the Tigers were the owners of a 23-game losing streak dating back to last season--the longest such streak among Division I teams.

But despite their record the Tigers are much improved under first-year Coach Bob Thomason.

The Tigers had their opportunities against Fullerton, erasing a six-point deficit in the first half to go up by seven. But Fullerton, behind Hill’s three-point play with less than 2 minutes left in the first half, cut it to 31-30 at halftime.

The Titans (13-11, 8-7) staved off Pacific and its three-point shooters--Reggie Ricks and Demps, who combined for 11 three-pointers.

“You give up 33 points on three-pointers and someone’s going to be in the ballgame with you,” Sneed said.

For the Titans, it was another close game that shouldn’t have been, much like an overtime victory over San Jose State last week. But as assistant coach Donny Daniels put it as he left, “a win is a win is a win.”

The Titans have won eight of their past 12.

For Anderson, a starter last season who returned to the team eight games ago after being dropped from the team because of academic problems, it was a fine outing.

“I thought Van played great,” Sneed said.

Anderson said he hesitated when he was sent in for Ceballos, the Titans’ leading scorer.

“I wanted to go in and help the team as much as possible, but I tried to convince Cedric to take off the sweatband. I didn’t want it to hurt the team.”

It didn’t. Anderson made three of seven shots--including all three three-point attempts.

“I’ve been working on the shot a little bit,” said Anderson, who averaged only six points a game last season. “I felt good tonight.”