Facing Press, Titans Fold : Big West: Pacific wins, 56-53, to drop Fullerton into tie for fourth.

Third place in the Big West Conference hung in the air like stale cigarette smoke, and by the final six minutes of Cal State Fullerton’s 56-53 loss at Pacific on Thursday, the Titans thought the atmosphere was much more foul.

Point guard Aaron Sunderland, who recently has been to Fullerton what oxygen is to your lungs, drew his fifth foul with 6:26 to play and the score tied, 48-48, and it was like sucking the air out of the Titan basketballs.

Pacific pressed and so did Fullerton. The problem for the Titans, though, was this: Pressing was a set defense for Pacific. For Fullerton, it was something like working on mysteries without any clues. As the heat got more intense, Titan ballhandlers got more wide-eyed.

And the final minutes became a Fullerton nightmare.

Sharif Metoyer, a freshman walk-on from Long Beach Poly High School, stepped 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.

It was about as effective as studying for a law exam by watching L.A. Law.

Seven of Fullerton’s more awkward possessions down the stretch, starting with the score tied, 48-48, the clock moving below 6:00 and Sunderland on 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 left, 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.

“We haven’t pressed very much this year, but they didn’t have a point guard,” Pacific Coach Bob Thomason said, neglecting to add that two plus two equals four.

Memories: In the three games leading up to Thursday’s, Sunderland had compiled 75 points, 21 rebounds, 19 assists and five steals. In front of 4,006 in the Spanos Center, he had seven points and five rebounds.

“Being so accustomed to playing with (Sunderland) . . . . Sharif is used to playing with us, but not used to the pressure. It was a big learning experience for him and for us,” said center Sean Williams, whose two blocks tied him with Derek Jones for the single-season school record with 56.

“Now, we know we need to step up and not get into foul trouble.”

After Terrell knocked that pass away from Metoyer with 21 seconds left, 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.

Fullerton came down, Bowen was fouled--but the Titans weren’t in the bonus. The Titans were out of timeouts, and Amundsen knocked Kim Kemp’s in-bounds pass away, and so much for third place.

Fullerton (14-9, 9-6), which drops into a fourth-place tie with Cal State Long Beach, was led by Williams and Kemp, who had 11 points apiece. Terrell had 15 and Glenn Griffin added 13 for Pacific (14-9, 10-5), which moves into sole possession of third place.

“We’re only in control of ourselves and how hard we play and if we play together--we can’t control the officials and the crowd,” Holland said. “As for Sharif, that’s a tough position to ask him to play. He tried to do the best he could.

“We played well enough tonight to put ourselves in a position to win. That’s what I’m proud of.”

Indeed, the Spanos Center is no easy venue. Pacific had already picked off Nevada Las Vegas, New Mexico State and Cal State Long Beach at home this season. The Tigers’ victory over Fullerton clinched their first winning Big West season since 1979--back when the conference was called the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn.

Furthermore, Pacific came into the game ranked 17th nationally in scoring defense--and the 53 points to which the Tigers limited Fullerton is a season-low.

Fullerton actually shot better than Pacific from the field--44.9% to 38.9%--but was outrebounded, 39-32. The Tigers also made 13 of 24 free throws to Fullerton’s seven of 14.

Sunderland picked up his third foul with 6:02 left in the first half and, from that point, the Tigers could hardly contain their glee. Terrell was Sunderland’s man, so it was Terrell who got the ball over and over again as Pacific zeroed in on Fullerton’s point guard.

“Most definitely,” Terrell said. “Sunderland is one of the top scorers on their team. He’s their catalyst. We felt if we could go at him early and get him in foul trouble, they would be disrupted at the end. That was a key.”

Now, Fullerton is left behind in the conference race--with UNLV and New Mexico State facing the Titans in two of their final three games.