Titans Spoil Home Debut for UNLV’s Grgurich

Chris St. Clair made a three-point shot with eight seconds left Saturday night that lifted Cal State Fullerton to an 82-80 victory over Nevada Las Vegas.

The outcome spoiled the home debut of new UNLV Coach Tim Grgurich, the longtime assistant under Jerry Tarkanian, who was in a courtside seat in his first visit to the Thomas & Mack Center for a game since he was ousted three years ago.

It was the third consecutive loss for the Rebels. Fullerton is 2-3 and has won three of the last four games against UNLV.

Fullerton also surprised the Rebels, 84-75, in Las Vegas last season, when the Titans won only eight games. It was one of five defeats the Rebels suffered at home in a 15-13 season under Rollie Massimino, who was forced out with a $1.8-million buyout in October.

The Titans were down by 12 points at one stage in the second half, but Winston Peterson’s layup with 53 seconds left closed the deficit to 80-79.

UNLV’s Reggie Manuel was called for traveling in a scramble for a loose ball with 28 seconds to go, setting the stage for St. Clair’s shot.

“We kept telling our kids to hang in there, and they were able to deal with their run and stay close,” Fullerton Coach Bob Hawking said. “We were trying to get that kind of shot at the end.

“The kids really played hard and this was a great win for our program.”

Peterson had 25 points to lead the Titans. St. Clair finished with 17 points and Chris Dade had 16. Manuel had 26 points for UNLV.

An 11-0 run put Fullerton ahead, 19-9, but the Rebels came back to cut the deficit to 22-21. Fullerton, however, turned back that rush and held on for a 39-36 halftime lead.

The Titans were six points ahead with only a few seconds remaining in the first half, but reserve John Williams fouled Clayton Johnson on a long-range three-point attempt and Johnson made all three free throws with no time left.