CS Fullerton Feeling No Pain Now : College basketball: Game is sloppy, but Titans defeat CS Long Beach, 68-61, where they have had little success recently--at home.

The student body at Cal State Fullerton has started calling Titan Gym “The House of Pain.”

Indeed it had been a painful place for Fullerton to play in recent games, but not on Thursday night.

After two consecutive losses at home, Fullerton managed to outlast Cal State Long Beach, 68-61, in a Big West Conference game before 2,763.

It took a layup and two free throws by guard Aaron Sunderland and two free throws by guard Don Leary in the final minute to keep Long Beach, which trailed in the second half by 12 points, at bay.

The Titan victory pushed Fullerton (13-8 overall, 8-5 in the Big West) past Long Beach (16-7, 8-6) into fourth place.

Fullerton has won more games than it did last season when it went 12-16.

Long Beach, which cracked the Top 25 in early January, continues to struggle. The 49ers have lost three in a row away from home and six of their last 10 overall. They were only 18 of 53 from the floor on Thursday.

Fullerton made four of its first eight shots and opened a 9-4 lead on a layup by center Sean Williams with 13:18 to play.

Reserve center Mike Atkinson of Long Beach was called for a foul on the play, but Williams missed the free throw, setting the tone for what was to become some of the sloppiest play of the season for either team.

Jeff Rogers of Long Beach made the first of two free throws eight seconds later, then Atkinson made one at the 13:10 mark.

The teams traded turnovers without a basket, then Rogers fouled Bruce Bowen in the act of shooting, but Bowen missed both free throws. The 49ers’ Lucious Harris then missed a 17-foot jumper, and Rod Hannibal got the rebound but missed the layup. By the time Fullerton got the ball with 12:11 to play, the 49ers had missed three consecutive layups.

A basket by Harris with 5:07 to play cut the 49ers’ deficit to 21-19 and Long Beach had a chance to tie on its next possession. But Bryon Russell lost the ball on his way up for a three-pointer, then grabbed the shirt of Kim Kemp from behind as Kemp streaked in for an apparent layup. Russell was called for the foul and Kemp made both free throws for a 25-21 lead.

The 49ers pulled to 62-61 with 2:08 to play but could not catch the Titans.