Ward Takes Charge, Scores 25 in Titan Victory

Cal State Fullerton forward Agee Ward, bruised thigh and all, gave the Titans a shot in the arm Saturday night, scoring 25 points and grabbing 12 rebounds to lead Fullerton to a 79-76 victory over Butler in front of 1,201 in Titan Gym.

Ward, a 6-foot-5 junior who started the Titans’ season opener against Lamar last Monday, has had a reduced role since injuring his leg, coming off the bench the last two games.

He played only 15 minutes Wednesday against Tulsa, and almost every time he checked in at the scorer’s table Saturday night, Ward limped onto the court. But he gave Fullerton 23 strong minutes, converting four offensive rebounds into baskets and scoring 16 of his points in the first half. That matched his previous career-high.

Center Aaron Wilhite added 12 points and reserve forward Ron Caldwell had 10 to complement an inside game that carried the Titans (1-2) on a night their outside game went cold.

Fullerton guard Joe Small made his first shot early in the game but suffered through a 3-for-16 performance, including one of six from three-point range. He finished with 11 points.

“No player is going to have a good game every night--that’s why it’s a team game,” Titan Coach John Sneed said. “Someone else has to step in, like Agee. I’m happy when more than one guy is a threat out there.”

It seemed as if no Titan was a threat in the final six minutes, when Fullerton blew an 11-point lead. Trailing, 72-61, with 5:53 remaining, the Bulldogs (2-2) scored 11 consecutive points, nine by forward Darin Archbold, to make it 72-72 with 2:45 left. Archbold finished with a game-high 31 points.

Fullerton caved into Butler’s full-court press, turning the ball over three times during Butler’s run. Wilhite finally broke the spell with two free throws at the 2:10 mark, and Small hit a jumper and two free throws to keep Fullerton ahead in the final 1:28.

But the victory wasn’t secured until Bruce Bowen’s block of Jermaine Guice’s three-point attempt at the buzzer.

Wilhite had made one of two foul shots with five seconds left to give Fullerton the 79-76 lead. Butler rebounded the second shot and fired a long pass up the right side to Guice.

But Bowen, a slender, 6-5 sophomore forward, blocked his attempt away, avoiding a foul and leaping out of bounds to catch the deflection and toss it toward mid-court as the buzzer sounded. That prevented the Bulldogs from making an in-bounds pass or attempting another shot.

“Bruce is longer than most people think, and he got up high on that one,” Sneed said.

The Bulldogs, who had their most success when they were able to pass the ball around the perimeter and find open shots, came out hot, making six of their first seven shots and taking an 18-8 lead in the first seven minutes.

But the Titans increased their defensive intensity, and Ward sparked a 14-4 run, scoring six points to help Fullerton pull even at 22 with 7:53 left in the first half. Fullerton outscored Butler, 6-1, in the final two minutes of the first half to go up, 42-36.

Butler had trimmed the lead to 50-49 when Titan forward J.D. Green made a three-pointer for his only points of the game. Forward Kevin Ahsmuhs also timed his four points well, making a three-pointer and a free throw to give the Titans a 71-61 lead with 6:06 to go.

But Fullerton’s failure to handle Butler’s press in the final minutes almost cost them the win. Point guard Wayne Williams, who played well at times and had nine assists, dribbled into several traps and made several bad passes, but he didn’t get much support from his teammates, who didn’t play aggressively against the press.

“Their press made our guys tentative,” Sneed said. “They were inviting long passes, which you hate to throw in those situations. It wasn’t a zone press, which Wayne usually does a good job against. It was a helter-skelter press, and we didn’t attack it. We had the ball in the wrong players’ hands at times.”