Fullerton Shoots Only 32.8% in Loss to UC Santa Barbara

Cal State Fullerton Coach John Sneed never raised his voice to display his frustration with the Titans’ 64-58 Big West Conference loss to UC Santa Barbara Thursday night, but he made his point loud and clear.

“I’m more disappointed with this team tonight than I have been all year,” Sneed said after Fullerton shot a season-low 32.8% in Titan Gym. “We’ve had poor shot selection the past few weeks, but we were selfish and stubborn tonight. It’s one thing to attempt to do the right thing and fail, but when you don’t even attempt the right play, it’s frustrating.”

Compounding Fullerton’s problems was Santa Barbara’s stingy man-to-man defense, which has allowed the fewest points per game (64.5) in the conference. Point guard Ray Kelly had six steals, including two that led to fast-break baskets early in the game and one that denied Fullerton a shot with 22 seconds left.

Idris Jones sank the game’s biggest basket, a three-pointer with 48 seconds left that gave Santa Barbara, 11-4 overall and 5-2 in the conference, a 60-54 lead. The Gauchos led, 62-56, when Kelly stole the ball from Fullerton point guard Aaron Sunderland and fed Lucius Davis for an uncontested slam with 15 seconds left.

Davis finished with a game-high 22 points, and Jones added 18. Fullerton (5-9, 1-4) had four players, Sunderland (14), Sean Williams (14), Joe Small (11) and Bruce Bowen (10), in double figures.