CS Fullerton Falls Into Fourth Place

Third place in the Big West Conference hung in the balance but during the final six minutes of Cal State Fullerton’s 56-53 loss at Pacific on Thursday night, the Titans were in trouble.

Point guard Aaron Sunderland drew his fifth foul with 6:26 to play and the score tied, 48-48.

Both teams pressed, but for the Titans the final minutes were a nightmare.

Sharif Metoyer, a freshman walk-on from Long Beach Poly High, came in for Sunderland first, then Coach Brad Holland inserted junior Dijon Bernard into an off-guard role and moved forward Bruce Bowen to the point.

Nothing worked.

Fullerton’s more awkward possessions down the stretch, starting with the score tied, 48-48, with the clock moving below 6:00 and Sunderland watching from the bench:

Bernard misses one of two free throws . . . Metoyer misses two free throws . . . Bernard’s pass is stolen by Pacific’s Tony Amundsen . . . Bernard is called for charging . . . Bernard misses a short jumper on a drive in the lane . . . Metoyer is trapped in front of the Fullerton bench and is forced to call a time out with 33 seconds to play, 20 on the shot clock and the Titans trailing, 54-53 . . . Metoyer’s pass to Bowen is knocked away by Chuck Terrell with 21 seconds to play.

In his three previous games, Sunderland had 75 points, 21 rebounds and 19 assists. Before 4,006 in the Spanos Center, he had seven points and five rebounds.

“It was a big learning experience for him and for us,” Titan center Sean Williams said. “Now we know we need to step up and not get into foul trouble.”

After Terrell knocked the pass away from Metoyer with 21 seconds to play, Metoyer fouled Michael Jackson at the other end to prevent a layup. Jackson made one of two free throws, making it 55-53 with 19 seconds left.

The Titans’ Bowen was fouled, but Fullerton wasn’t in the bonus and out of timeouts. Amundsen knocked Kim Kemp’s in-bounds pass away.

Pacific (14-9, 10-5) had taken sole possession of third place.

Fullerton (14-9, 9-6), which got 11 points apiece from Williams and Kemp, had fallen into a fourth-place tie with Cal State Long Beach.