Cal State Fullerton Well Aware It’s Cold Outside

Cal State Fullerton followed a pattern Saturday night that Titan Coach Bob Hawking is finding all too familiar.

Texas Arlington further exposed the Titans’ outside shooting problems with a 1-3-1 zone defense, and the Mavericks went on to win, 74-68, in the consolation game of the Fresno State basketball tournament.

“We just started doing some work with that 1-3-1 a few days ago, and I’m real glad we did,” Texas Arlington Coach Eddie McCarter said. “It really saved us. We noticed the other night against Santa Clara that they did a good job of penetrating, and we felt we had to do what we could to take that away from them.”

The Mavericks went to the zone about eight minutes into the game, and stayed with it the rest of the way. Fullerton (1-2) made only 19 of 65 shots from the field (29%). Texas Arlington was 29 of 61 (48%).

What success the Titans had on offense was mostly from its inside game. Senior center Winston Peterson had 23 points and 16 rebounds. Reserve guard Chris St. Clair scored 16 points, hitting five of eight three-pointers. Guard James French, however, was scoreless from the field in 11 shots and missed seven three-point tries.

“We didn’t attack that 1-3-1 very well, and when you combine that with the poor shooting, it was a struggle,” Hawking said. “And, for James, it wasn’t just being 0 for 11, it was some of the shots he missed. I’m sure no one feels worse about it than he does, though.”

Texas Arlington (2-2) had balanced scoring in posting their second victory of the season. Keith Cornett had 18 points, and Damon Johnson made seven of 10 shots from the floor and finished with 15. Tony Williams had 12 points and Paul Banks had 11.

The Titans had a similar sluggish shooting performance Friday against Santa Clara, and making only 24 of 34 free throws kept them in the game.

Fullerton fell behind, 40-33, at halftime Saturday and the Mavericks were in control throughout the second half. Texas Arlington led by 21 points with about seven minutes remaining, but the Titans managed to cut into the lead behind the scoring of Peterson, who had 11 points in the second half.

Texas Arlington led by 10 points with about a minute left before a three-point play by Peterson pulled Fullerton to within five points.

“It’s really hard to get over the hump when you can’t score,” Hawking said. “No matter how well you play defensively, you still have to shoot. We played well enough defensively to win it. Peterson played well again. He was a force inside, but just about everyone else was struggling offensively.

“Our shots weren’t that bad. For the most part, they were taking the shots we hit in practice every day.”

Notes

Senior center Winston Peterson was named to the all-tournament team. . . . Santa Clara defeated Fresno State, 81-57, in the championship game.