Tiff With Girlfriend Led to Benching of Star : College basketball: Cal State Fullerton Coach John Sneed says series of incidents led to benching of Cedric Ceballos.

Cedric Ceballos’ four-minute benching at the start of a Cal State Fullerton basketball game Wednesday came five days after campus police were called to a dispute involving Ceballos and his girlfriend on campus, a Cal State University Police Department spokesperson said.

Campus police were called to Fullerton’s student housing at about 8 p.m. March 2 where Ceballos and his girlfriend were involved in a loud argument, Sgt. Sam Summerlin said. There were no criminal complaints filed, he said.

Fullerton Coach John Sneed had been criticized for being insensitive when Ceballos said he was benched for arriving late for practice Tuesday after attending the memorial service for his friend Hank Gathers, the Loyola Marymount star who died Sunday.

Sneed said Saturday that Ceballos was disciplined for a series of incidents and not only for being late to practice.

Sneed said he had given tardiness as the reason for the action because it was an easy explanation to reporters, but he was embarrassed by reports critical of the benching.

“I would never punish Cedric for going to a funeral,” he said. “Cedric was supposed to take care of some personal things as his mother and I requested, and didn’t.”

A Fullerton source said Ceballos was supposed to meet with campus police Tuesday but did not.

Ceballos, who was watching the semifinal games of the Big West Conference tournament at Long Beach Arena Saturday, said he did not know anything about the incident.

“I don’t know what’s going on,” he said. “Maybe it’s a different situation or somebody else.”

Ceballos, the leading scorer in the Big West Conference, did not start the tournament game against UC Irvine Wednesday, but played most of the game in a Fullerton victory.

Fullerton concluded its season Friday with a 13-16 record after a loss to third-ranked Nevada Las Vegas.