CAL STATE FULLERTON NOTEBOOK : Titans’ Roller-Coaster Ride Bottoms Out

Titan basketball players in December raved about how good team chemistry was, but by March, the season, like a science experiment gone awry, had blown up in the Titans’ faces.

The team harmony fostered by a 10-3 start gradually deteriorated during a 4-11 finish. Fullerton bottomed out with Friday’s 74-67 Big West Conference Tournament loss to Pacific, after which players second-guessed some of Coach John Sneed’s personnel and play-calling decisions.

After looking so good during the first half of the first-round game, the Titans played one of their worst halves of the season, shooting 21% and blowing a 43-36 halftime lead.

Point guard Wayne Williams and shooting guard Joe Small voiced their displeasure with Sneed’s offensive strategy and forward J.D. Green’s lack of playing time. Green, who averaged 16.3 points in three previous starts, played only eight minutes, scoring five points.

But Small said this wasn’t just a case of players venting frustrations over a disappointing loss. Rather, it was the culmination of problems that had been brewing for weeks.

“The team started getting short-tempered, both players and coaches, and it just blew up at the tournament,” said Small, Fullerton’s leading scorer with a 21.8-point average.

“We had good chemistry for a while, but when we started losing, things fell apart. Tempers were short in practice, and there was a lot of yelling going back and forth. It was bound to happen.”

There was plenty of peace, love and understanding during the first half of the season. The Titans were 10-3 at the midway point and more players were getting involved in the offense, which was in stark contrast to last season’s twin-engine (Cedric Ceballos and Mark Hill) attack.

But a 75-73 overtime loss to Pacific on Jan. 12 demoralized the Titans, and, two nights later, they lost to last-place San Jose State. Starting center Aaron Wilhite injured his knee during the San Jose game, and reserve center Ron Caldwell was suspended for disciplinary reasons after it.

Fullerton lost four of its next five games without Wilhite. The sophomore returned to help the Titans defeat Pacific and Fresno State, but Fullerton lost five of its last six games to close the year.

Caldwell came back for two games in February but was kicked off the team again, and freshman reserves Greg Vernon, the first guard off the bench, and Michael Bloodworth, who saw little action, were suspended March 1 after being arrested in connection with the theft of car and the illegal use of stolen credit cards.

Come conference tournament time, Sneed was down to a seven-man rotation.

“When you don’t have the right people on the floor, it makes for inconsistent practices and inconsistent games,” Sneed said. “This has been a very inconsistent season, a roller-coaster ride all year.”

Considering the Titans were picked to finish last by conference coaches, a 14-14 record and sixth-place finish would seem to be an accomplishment. But the way the Titans closed the season left a sour taste in their mouths.

“For us, it’s disappointing because we thought we could win 18, 19 or 20 games,” Small said. “We had hopes of going to the National Invitation Tournament, but we blew it.”

Add basketball: According to Titan assistant David Grossman, coaches returned to their office Friday night and found this message from an anonymous caller on their answering machine: “I pray to God your team bus crashes.”

If anything is sadder than the way the Titans played in the second half Friday, this has to be it.

The largest-ever Fullerton contingent--seven wrestlers and three coaches--will depart for Iowa City, Iowa, today to compete in the NCAA Wrestling Championships Thursday through Saturday at the University of Iowa.

Titan Coach Dan Lewis said heavyweight David Jones, who placed fourth at the nationals last year, will have the best shot at a championship, and junior 134-pounder Lyndon Campbell will have a good shot at placing among the top eight in his weight class.

The other five NCAA qualifiers are Michael Grubbs (118), Jeff Maes (126), Marty Kouyoumtjian (150), Laszlo Molinar (167) and Ramon Diaz (177). Molinar, a freshman from Budapest, Hungary, has only been with the Titans for about a month.

He enrolled Feb. 4 at Fullerton and had an 0-3 record entering the Pacific-10 Conference meet but placed third to earn a berth in the nationals. Lewis said Molinar, 22, placed second in the 1989 Hungarian Junior National freestyle tournament.

Titan baseball Coach Augie Garrido will be going for his 900th career victory at 2:30 p.m. today when Fullerton plays Chapman College at Hart Park.

Garrido entered the season with an 888-425-7 career record, including a 667-292-6 mark in 15 previous seasons at Fullerton, and his Titans are now 11-11 after a 3-9 start.

Titan Notes

Fullerton’s baseball game at UCLA, which was rained out Jan. 27, has been rescheduled for 3 p.m. Wednesday at UCLA’s Jackie Robinson Stadium. The Titans have a three-game series at California this weekend. travel to Pepperdine for a game next Tuesday and will have eight games off before opening the Big West Conference season March 28 at UC Irvine. . . . The Fullerton women’s basketball team’s 108-80 victory over New Mexico State in the Big West tournament semifinals last week was Maryalyce Jeremiah’s 100th victory as the Titans’ coach. She enters Wednesday’s NCAA tournament game against Louisiana Tech with a 100-75 record in six seasons at Fullerton. The 108 points were the most scored in a game in Titan history, breaking the previous record of 104, set in 1969-70 when Fullerton beat Cal Western, 104-13. Joey Ray’s five three-pointers in the New Mexico State game broke the previous school record of four, set by Jill Matyuch four times from 1988-89. . . . Titan center Genia Miller is one of 12 Division I finalists for the Champion USA/WBCA Player of the Year award. The winner will be selected by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Assn. and announced this month.