Pacific Overpowers Fullerton, 78-62 : Basketball: The Titans suffer through an off night shooting, particularly down the stretch.

Pacific had too much offensive firepower for Cal State Fullerton Saturday night, especially in the final nine minutes when it counted most.

The Titans scored only one field goal during that time, allowing Pacific to take a 78-62 Big West Conference basketball victory in Spanos Center.

Forward Marzell Clayton, the only senior in Pacific’s starting lineup, came up with a career-high 16 points on a night when the Tigers had four players in double figures.

It was too much for the Titans, who shot only 32.8% from the field and hit only 13 of 24 free throws. The Titans missed five consecutive free throws during one stretch in the final five minutes.

Pacific (9-6 and 4-3) moved ahead of Fullerton (5-10 and 3-4) in the conference standings, with the Tigers getting their fourth consecutive victory from the Titans and their sixth in the last eight games between the two teams.

“They really dominated us physically inside,” Fullerton Coach Bob Hawking said. “Clayton didn’t come into the game that strong statistically, but he really hurt us. Actually, I thought we did a pretty good job on their perimeter guys, but we broke down on our post defense.”

Pacific’s guards have been the key to the offense all season, and both had solid games. Adam Jacobsen, a sophomore from La Crescenta, had 13 points and freshman Corey Anders added 12, but the Tigers’ inside scoring was the difference. Forward Charles Jones had 15 points to go with Clayton’s 16.

The Titans suffered from a sub-part shooting night from senior center Winston Peterson, whose shots rattled around the rim all night but rolled out. Peterson hit only five of 19 from the field but finished with 15 points. Peterson also had troubles in both games against Pacific last season, scoring 12 in one game and eight in the other.

Fullerton guard James French scored 16 points. French was five for 11 from the field, including four for six from three-point range.

Pacific Coach Bob Thomason gave his 6-8 center, Vic Trierweiler, considerable credit for his defensive work against Peterson.

“We ran into some foul trouble when they got close in the second half,” Thomason said, “but they couldn’t make their free throws during that stretch. But they’re a scrappy team. Bob has done a good job with that team. They’re going to be a team to be reckoned with the rest of the way.”

The poor free-throw shooting was uncharacteristic of Fullerton. The Titans made only seven of 14 free throws in the last nine minutes of the game. That was particularly surprising to Hawking. “We’ve had good concentration on our free throws this season, especially with the game on the line,” he said.

Fullerton shot only 33% from the field in the first half and had trouble from the beginning containing Clayton, who hit five of his first eight shots and grabbed six rebounds in the first half. He finished seven for 11 from the field with 10 rebounds.

The Tigers shot 51.7% in the first half and finished with a 50% effort. Pacific also had a 47-40 rebounding advantage.

The Titans struggled throughout the first half, falling behind 6-0 and trailing, 15-5, before the game was five minutes old. The Tigers went on to lead by as much as 15 points before Chris St. Clair kept Fullerton in the game with four consecutive points. Pacific led, 39-28, at halftime.

Fullerton battled back in the second half, cutting the deficit to 54-51 with just over 10 minutes remaining, but Anders came up with two consecutive baskets to turn back that threat. The Titans trailed only 60-55 with 6 1/2 minutes left before they faded at the finish.