Titans Stop Portland Despite Flu : College basketball: Fullerton rebounds from 13-point first-half deficit to win, 91-84, for fifth straight victory. Bowen scores 21.

Cal State Fullerton basketball Coach John Sneed hasn’t been feeling well all week, and 16 minutes into Thursday night’s game against the University of Portland, he had to be getting sick to his stomach.

The Titans, besieged by the flu since the weekend, were playing like they felt--miserably--and were trailing a marginal Pilot team by 13 points.

Sneed called timeout, gave his players a short speech about pride and character, and Fullerton showed it has some, rebounding for a 91-84 nonconference victory in front of 1,220 in Titan Gym.

Sophomore forward Bruce Bowen, one of the few semi-healthy Titans, scored a career-high 21 points, including 14 of Fullerton’s last 24, to help the Titans (5-2) win their fifth consecutive game.

Junior guard Joe Small added 18 points, only three in the second half, sophomore center Aaron Wilhite had 14 points and 10 rebounds, and senior forward Ron Caldwell scored 16 points, including a key follow shot with 43 seconds remaining that gave Fullerton an 85-81 lead.

Wayne Williams had missed a free throw, but Caldwell grabbed the offensive rebound and made a short jump shot for a four-point lead. Williams’ two free throws with 27 seconds left kept Fullerton ahead by four, and Small’s steal that led to Bowen’s inside basket gave the Titans an 89-83 lead with eight seconds remaining.

Because five of Fullerton’s top eight players--Small, Caldwell, J.D. Green, Agee Ward and Greg Vernon--were suffering from the flu this week, the Titans took Monday off and only practiced for an hour Tuesday and Wednesday.

It showed Thursday.

The Titans shot 34% from the field in the first half and appeared soft on defense throughout much of the game. They never really got their fast break going and couldn’t shake the pesky Pilots (1-7) in the second half.

“That’s not healthy for a ballclub,” Sneed said of this week’s practice regimen. “When you lay off that long, it affects you offensively, and I think you saw that tonight. Our shots were off, our timing was off, and we were never in sync. But I’m proud of the way our kids came back.”

Both teams started cold, with Fullerton making four of 18 shots and Portland making three of 11 in the first eight minutes. But the Pilots, taking advantage of some poor Titan shot selection and several turnovers, went on a 22-4 run, capped by Erik Spoelstra’s three-point bank shot that gave them a 39-26 lead with 3:56 remaining in the first half.

That’s when Sneed called timeout.

“We didn’t talk about Xs and O’s,” Sneed said. “We talked about pride and character.”

Fullerton responded, outscoring Portland, 14-2, to close the half. Ward started the run with a turnaround jumper, Small hit a jump shot and two free throws, Bowen made a three-pointer and two foul shots, and Small hit a three-pointer with 55 seconds to go to bring the Titans within one, 41-40, at the half.

The game was tied at 57 when Small hit a three-pointer with 12:01 left, but those were Small’s last points. Caldwell, who scored nine of his 16 in the final 11 minutes, and Bowen then took over.

Twice midway through the second half, Caldwell gave Fullerton five-point leads, first with a three-pointer and then with a jumper. When Portland trimmed the lead to one with 5:38 left, Caldwell made a bank shot to make it 74-71.

The Titans were also ahead by one when Bowen made a three-pointer and two free throws to make it 81-75 with 2:30 left. The free throws came after Pilot forward David Roth, a former Orange High School and Chapman College standout who finished with 21 points, fouled out.

Even without Roth’s outside punch--he made five of nine three-pointers--the Pilots remained close, cutting Fullerton’s lead to 82-81 when Bowen was called for goal-tending on Matt Houle’s shot with 50 seconds left.

But after Williams made one free throw and missed the second, Caldwell grabbed the rebound and scored to give the Titans a four-point cushion.