Williams’ Late Heroics Save the Titans Again

Time was running out on Cal State Fullerton Thursday night for what seemed like the umpteenth time in Wayne Williams’ career.

And for what also seemed like the umpteenth time, the ball was in Williams’ hands.

Fullerton was down by two to San Jose State with about seven seconds left. Williams, with the ball and on the right wing, looked at the clock and hesitated, memories of five buzzer-beating three-point shots perhaps flashing through his mind.

But this time, he spotted an open lane and drove in for a scooping layup with two seconds left, forcing an overtime period that ended in a 90-84 Fullerton victory in front of 2,201 in Titan Gym.

“It was a prayer,” Fullerton Coach John Sneed said. “But his prayers have been answered so many times.”

In overtime, Fullerton (11-8 overall, 5-5 in the Big West Conference) broke the 78-78 tie, taking the lead and holding it, with Williams hitting four consecutive free throws in the final 28 seconds to clinch the victory.

As regulation time ran down, there were those in the crowd--and on the bench--who thought Williams might try a three-pointer.

“I didn’t want him to get into that buzzer-beater thing,” Sneed said.

Williams admitted it crossed his mind.

“Just for a second I started to take a long shot, but when I saw how much time was left I thought I could get a little closer,” he said. “Really, I was trying to draw the foul, but I got the bucket.”

Williams’ latest last-second heroics took a bit of the spotlight away from Cedric Ceballos, who for the second game in a row played every minute of an overtime game, finishing with 31 points and 16 rebounds, eight of them off the offensive boards.

Ceballos played one of the finest games of his career Monday night against UC Santa Barbara, scoring 33 points in a game Fullerton lost in overtime after holding an 11-point lead with 2:20 left.

He wasn’t far off that form Thursday, and he knew it.

“I’m playing great,” Ceballos said. “Things are just flowing. It’s that time of year to get a run going. This is the home stretch. I’m just putting my head down.”

Against San Jose State, Fullerton was trying to get revenge for a loss in San Jose last month, one the Titans considered embarrassing.

San Jose State has beaten only two Big West Conference teams this season, Fullerton and UC Irvine.

Fullerton led by seven at halftime Thursday and by as many as 11 in the second half.

But San Jose State came back behind the hustling play of Troy Batiste and Andre Brooks. Brooks hit back-to-back three-point shots to stake San Jose State to a 69-61 lead with 6:30 left.

“The only thing I can say is San Jose is a real scrappy team,” Williams said. “They beat us in San Jose and they came to play.”

Brooks finished with 27 points, including five three-pointers. Batiste added 21.

Fullerton came back after trailing by eight behind Ceballos, whose three-point play cut it to five, and Agee Ward, who scored 11 points, including a soft jumper inside with 13 seconds left that pulled Fullerton to within 78-76.

Batiste, fouled by Williams with 10 seconds left, missed the front end of a one-and-one. Ward rebounded and nearly lost the ball out of bounds before saving it to Williams, who took it down court for the Titans, who had used their last timeout.

Williams took care of the two points, and then the Titans took care of overtime, preserving their unbeaten record at home after eight games.

“That’s more like the Titan team I know in overtime,” Sneed said. “We got emotional in overtime. But give San Jose credit. They are a good ballclub. They execute as well as anyone in the conference.”

Coach Stan Morrison watched his team lose for the 14th time this season, extending its losing streak to five. The Spartans are 5-14 overall, 2-8 in the Big West.

“I’m disappointed in the loss,” Morrison said. “But I’m very proud of how hard we played. . . . The game was really exciting. There were a lot of elements of drama. We were especially good in Act II, but we were nailed in Act III.”