Titans Win It With Something to Spare

Here was something new: Just before tipoff on Thursday night, Cal State Fullerton Coach Brad Holland saw not five, not six, not seven, but eight Titans suited up in front of him.

No doubt buoyed by such a large contingent, the Titans went out and surprised UC Santa Barbara, 66-57, in front of a Thunderdome crowd of 4,014.

For much of the last two weeks, thanks to injuries and illness, Fullerton, 4-12 overall and 2-6 in the Big West, has been forced to practice with only four or five players. Against Pacific last week, the Titans had seven players--and only six were sound.

Practices have been, well, how would you describe them?

“I don’t know, I wasn’t at practice all week,” said guard Greg Vernon, who came back from flu to score 10 points. “When I was in there on Wednesday, the guys were going hard playing two on two.”

Two on two?

Freshman Josh King, still recovering from oral surgery for impacted wisdom teeth, didn’t make the trip to Santa Barbara. Darren Little returned after missing several practices and last week’s Pacific game with flu.

But the person who made the most dramatic comeback conquered an ailment other than physical. Guard James French, zero for his last 15 three-point attempts entering the game, scored a career-high 22 points for the Titans.

French, who led the Big West in three-point percentage in December but had gone the last three games without a three-point basket, sank five of six three-pointers against the Gauchos (7-11, 3-5), including three of four to help put the game away in the second half.

“I was just feeling good,” French said. “I was feeling loose.”

Fullerton shot 53% as a team on Thursday--only the third time this season that the Titans were better than 50%.