Fullerton Opens With a Victory, but It’s Not Easy : Basketball: Titans triumph, 80-71, as Overton’s free-throw burst in final minutes turns back Northridge.

Cal State Fullerton got Bob Hawking’s college head coaching career off to a winning start Tuesday night.

It wasn’t flashy and it wasn’t easy, but the Titans held on for an 80-71 victory over Hawking’s alma mater, Cal State Northridge, in Titan Gymnasium.

“You always remember your first win on any level and I’ll remember this one,” Hawking said. “And it was great for the kids and for the staff to start out with a ‘W.’ ”

Only 674 fans turned out for it, however, underlining again that Hawking and his players have their work cut out trying to build interest in a team rated last in the Big West Conference’s preseason coaches’ poll.

Fullerton took control, with a surge of 10 consecutive points late in the second half, then turned back a Northridge stretch run with a string of free throws by junior guard Chuck Overton. Overton made five of six free throws in the final 41 seconds.

Guard Chris St. Clair and center Winston Peterson led the Titans, each scoring 15 points. Neither started, but Hawking used several combinations and nine players saw considerable action.

“I was pleased with both of them,” Hawking said. “Winston has done a great job in practice this past week.”

Hawking also felt St. Clair added some life to the attack when he was in the lineup at point guard. “And he did it defensively as well as offensively,” Hawking said.

Hawking said he started senior Fred Amos at center, because “he had earned it at this point” ahead of Peterson, the team’s leading scorer a year ago. “All our positions are up for grabs, and everyone knows that,” Hawking said.

Overton, a community college transfer from Salt Lake City, finished with 14 points in a solid opening performance.

The Titans shot .474 from the field after hitting .552 in the first half. Northridge managed only .350 from the field and never seemed to find the range consistently.

“If you don’t put the ball in the hole and you don’t get second shots that’s what’s going to happen,” said Northridge Coach Pete Cassidy. “They really beat us on the boards. They were getting second efforts and we didn’t get any.”

The best thing the Matadors had going was the play of senior guard Ryan Martin, who played at Ocean View High School.

Martin led Northridge with 21 points, 16 of them in the first half. He was three for three on three-pointers and seven for seven at the free-throw line in the first half. Center Peter Micelli added 13 for the Matadors.

While Hawking was pleased with the victory, he’s convinced the Titans need improvement in several areas.

“We’ll need to get a whole lot better on the defensive boards,” Hawking said. “They were hurting us more there than we can allow. The Big West teams are going to expose some of those things more than Northridge did.”

Hawking also was concerned that he lost three inside players on fouls late in the game. Peterson, David Frigout and Fred Amos all fouled out. “It was pretty scary to lose all three of them, “ Hawking said.