CS Long Beach Whips CS Fullerton

There was no magic in Titan Gym Tuesday night. That feeling of confidence that Cal State Fullerton Coach John Sneed says his players feel at home quickly dissipated when Fullerton and Cal State Long Beach began playing.

In its place was hostility, tension and ill will toward opposing coaches.

Two players engaged in a shoving match in the first half, and then 49er Coach Seth Greenberg and Titan Coach John Sneed went jaw to jaw, hurling expletives at each other.

All of the extracurricular activity overshadowed Long Beach’s 94-76 victory in a Big West Conference game that was the resumption of last Thursday’s game, which was postponed when 49er forward Kevin Cutler shattered a backboard with 16:10 to play in the half.

Cutler, despite missing three dunk shots on apparent attempts to tear down another rim, scored 26 points and grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds to help the 49ers win their first road game of the season and improve to 6-9, 2-4 in conference play.

Point guard Bobby Sears added a career-high 17 points for Long Beach. Joe Small scored 22 points for Fullerton, which was undefeated in eight previous home games and fell to 11-6, 4-4.

The Titans missed 12 consecutive shots during the first half, committing seven turnovers and going 9:22 without scoring. The 49ers scored 20 consecutive points to take a 33-14 lead.

Then things got really ugly.

Fullerton forward Bruce Bowen drove the lane and was fouled by Long Beach’s Ronnie Winbush. Bowen and Chris Tower exchanged words and then shoved each other.

No brawl ensued, but within moments, both coaches were in front of the scorer’s table, arguing. Greenberg was arguing the referees’ decision to charge both Tower and Bowen with technical fouls, and Sneed was upset that technical fouls weren’t called on 49er reserves who Sneed thought rushed onto the court after the shoving match.