CAL STATE FULLERTON NOTEBOOK : Bowen Says Titans Must Start Tougher

It’s hard to imagine the Cal State Fullerton basketball team, picked by coaches to finish last in the Big West Conference, underestimating many opponents this season.

But that’s exactly what reserve forward Bruce Bowen says the Titans did in their first three games against Lamar, Tulsa (both losses) and Butler (a 79-76 victory Saturday).

“At the beginning of games, we take teams too lightly,” Bowen said. “We’re kind of playing laid-back. We have to come out more fired up. Once we get that desire in our hearts to play tough defense, we’ll be OK.”

Fullerton opened a 4-0 lead against Butler, but the Bulldogs, taking advantage of the Titans’ soft perimeter defense, made six consecutive jumpers, most of them uncontested, to take a 12-4 lead.

The Titans’ defensive intensity rose significantly midway through the first half, and Fullerton surged ahead by halftime.

Butler point guard Tim Bowen, Bruce Bowen’s cousin, scored nine first-half points, but Wayne Williams held him to two points in the second half. Few Bulldogs were able to break free for wide-open jumpers in the second half.

Told of Bowen’s remarks, Titan Coach John Sneed said, “Maybe we should start him against San Francisco (Wednesday night) and have him get us going.”

Sneed was being facetious, but considering Bowen’s play and the performance of starting small forward J.D. Green, the coach might take himself up on that option.

Bowen leads the Titans in rebounds (21) and blocked shots (four) and is the team’s sixth-leading scorer with a 7.3 average. Green, the transfer from Southern Methodist, has 10 points and eight rebounds, leads the team with 13 fouls, several of them offensive, and is second with 10 turnovers.

Bowen, who blocked Jermaine Guice’s three-point attempt at the buzzer to preserve Saturday night’s victory, has played more minutes (67) than Green (53).

“J.D. has really been pressing,” Sneed said. “He’s so disappointed with his offense that it has affected him on the defensive end.”

Titan Gym is becoming dangerous for pedestrians. On Nov. 24, a toddler who ran onto the court during a women’s basketball game between Fullerton and Oregon State just missed being trampled by the fast-breaking Titans.

Saturday night, a ball boy got caught in the cross-fire of the Butler-Fullerton game and narrowly escaped injury.

Tyson Bauerly, an eighth-grader at Fullerton’s Ladera Vista Junior High School, was stationed under the Bulldogs’ basket late in the first half when a scramble resulted in several players falling in the lane and a Titan fast break toward the opposite basket.

As Bauerly was toweling the floor, Fullerton missed a layup, Butler rebounded and got the ball upcourt quickly. Bauerly had just looked up when the action--more specifically, Bulldog 6-foot-9 center J.P. Brens--was upon him.

Brens stepped on the ball boy’s foot and knocked him over, but considering the mismatch--Bauerly came up to Brens’ waist--the ball boy got the best of the collision. Bauerly wasn’t hurt, and the Bulldogs didn’t score.

Manual Arts High School point guard Dwain Bradberry, whose father said he would not sign a letter of intent this fall, did sign with Fullerton. Bradberry said he signed Nov. 21, the last day of the early signing period, and Sneed said he received the letter late last week.

Bradberry, who averaged 13.7 points and 5.4 assists to help the Toilers win the City 4-A championship last season, made an oral commitment to Fullerton before the signing period, but his father, Edgar, said on Nov. 19 that he would not sign the letter because he thought his son still had mixed emotions about his decision.

“My dad wanted me to wait because he thought I was deciding too quickly,” Bradberry said. “He wanted me to listen to some other schools to see what they had to say. But I did sign with Fullerton.”

The Titan wrestling team made a strong showing at last weekend’s Las Vegas Invitational, finishing 13th in a field of 44 teams at one of the nation’s most prestigious college meets. Ten of the country’s top 20 teams competed, and second-ranked Oklahoma State won.

Fullerton’s top performer was heavyweight David Jones, who defeated four opponents before losing to Illinois’ John Llewellyn, 7-3, in the championship match. Llewellyn is ranked second nationally and Jones third.

Lyndon Campbell (134 pounds) and Ramon Diaz (177) each advanced to the quarterfinals, where Campbell lost to Iowa State’s Mike Moreno, 6-3, and Diaz lost to Nebraska’s Corey Olson, 5-4. Olson is ranked second nationally.

Titan Notes

The men’s basketball team’s game at the University of San Francisco Wednesday night will mark the first meeting between the Titans and Dons since 1978, when Fullerton beat a Bill Cartwright-led San Francisco team, 75-72, in an NCAA West Regional semifinal game at Albuquerque. The Titans then lost to Arkansas, 61-58, in the regional final, falling one game short of the Final Four. . . . Fullerton center Genia Miller, who is averaging 23.7 points and 11.7 rebounds after three games, was a preseason All-American selection by Women’s Basketball Yearbook. The magazine named 12 preseason All-Americans, but only 10 make the Kodak All-American team at the end of the season. The magazine also projected Miller to be the Big West Conference’s most valuable player this season. . . . The Titan women’s team will have a chance to avenge a 1989 NCAA tournament, first-round loss to Montana this weekend. Fullerton travels to Missoula, Mont., for the Montana-Domino’s Pizza Tournament and will play La Salle Friday night. If the Titans win, they will likely play Montana in Saturday’s championship game. Montana, which beat Fullerton, 82-67, in 1989, plays North Texas in Friday’s opener. “Someone from Montana called to apologize that only 6,000 fans would be coming for the tournament, as opposed to the 7,500 who saw us play there in 1989,” Titan Coach Maryalyce Jeremiah said. “Apparently there’s something else going on in Missoula.” Fullerton’s combined attendance for 28 games last season was 7,645. . . . Millikan High School infielder Marci White has signed a letter of intent to play softball at Fullerton. A power-hitting shortstop/third baseman, White hit .472 as a sophomore and .469 as a junior and was an all-Moore League selection both years. . . . The Titan Athletic Foundation and the American Red Cross Orange County Chapter are working together on a food drive for Fullerton’s basketball game against Portland on Dec. 20. Fans are asked to bring dried beans, rice, powdered milk, peanut butter and tuna to the game to help feed people in Orange County.