Improving Basketball Team Is Exceeding Expectations

The Cal State Fullerton men’s basketball team has passed the season’s halfway mark, and no matter how you look at it, the Titans have done better to this point than had been expected in the preseason.

Fullerton is 5-10, 3-4 in the Big West. That’s not anything for a high-profile program to get excited about, but when you started the season from Fullerton’s vantage point, on the heels of an 8-19 season, it’s at least a glimmer of hope.

The Titans were picked to finish last in the Big West. At this point, they are alone in seventh, ahead of Nevada Las Vegas, UC Irvine and San Jose State.

At the same stage last season, the Titans had won only three games, and two of those victories were against non-Division I teams, Concordia and Oklahoma Baptist. The only conference victory was an upset at Nevada, 74-70.

All three conference victories have come on the road, against UNLV, UC Irvine and San Jose State. Even though the Titans lost to New Mexico State and Utah State, two of the Big West’s top teams, by a total of 19 points, they played well in both games.

Fullerton faces UC Santa Barbara on Thursday and Long Beach State on Saturday, the only two conference opponents the Titans haven’t played this season.

The Titans have been blown out of only two games, at UCLA and at Utah. The only game they clearly should have won but didn’t was a six-point loss to Texas Arlington early in the season in the Fresno tournament.

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Coach Bob Hawking believes the team has improved consistently through the first 15 games.

“I think we’re a lot better offensively now than we were when we started the season,” Hawking said. “We’re shooting better now, and we’re executing better. We’ve had some games lately where we’ve had more assists than turnovers, which is something we really need.”

The only game in which Hawking believes there was a breakdown defensively was in a 95-82 home loss to a good Nevada team. “Defensively, we’ve been pretty consistent,” he said. “Our players have given a good effort just about every time out.”

The Titans’ lack of size has made it difficult to match up with many of the more physical teams they have faced. The Titans have had three guards in the lineup most of the time, and their only player with good size, 6-foot-9 forward Dave Frigout, is a finesse player.

Winston Peterson, who is playing center at 6-6, continues as the team’s top player offensively and is third in the Big West in scoring at 17.5 points. But he has had some problems defensively against some of the conference’s more physically imposing post players.

The key for the Titans all along has been getting better shooting from their guards to prevent defenses from clamping down the middle, thus giving Peterson more room to maneuver.

The guards, particularly senior James French, have shot better in the last three games, even though the Titans lost two of the three.

“I don’t have any doubt that the league is tougher this season,” Hawking said. “The NCAA’s own ratings of the conferences, based on strength of schedules and so forth, has the Big West rated 10th in the country this year. The Big West was rated 21st last year.”

Hawking also is optimistic that his team can finish strong.

“I feel our best basketball this season is still to be played,” he said. “The kids have been working hard, and they’ve stayed positive. They haven’t let the losses bother them.”

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Hawking’s status beyond this season remains uncertain.

Several coaches in the conference have been especially complimentary about the job he has done.

Pacific Coach Bob Thomason, quoted last week in the Stockton Record, said if he were to vote for the conference coach of the year now, he’d vote for Hawking.

Athletic Director John Easterbrook said he will not make any decision on Hawking until the end of the season. He indicated when Hawking was hired on an interim basis for the season that the job would be posted in the spring and others would be considered. He said his plans from that standpoint haven’t changed.

But Hawking remains hopeful.

“I think things are headed in the right direction,” he said. “But I think everyone knows it’s going to take time. I feel the kids have responded well to our staff. One of the things this program needs more than anything else is stability. I’m here now and I intend to be here for a long time if I’m given the job.”

Titan Notes

The Fullerton women’s gymnastics team scored a big victory last weekend, defeating Stanford 191.225 to 186.90. Cristi Clifford had another good performance in the all-around (38.80) and had a career-high score on the vault at 9.825. Freshman Christy Lutz turned in a strong effort on the uneven bars and balance beam a well as in floor exercise. . . . The Titan wrestling team is 2-12 after losing to San Francisco State, 26-13, last weekend. Jason Roberts has the team’s best individual record at 12-6 in the 150-pound division. . . . The Titans have tentatively scheduled six of their eight nonconference basketball games for next season. Fullerton will play at Cal State Northridge, San Diego State and San Francisco and have home games against Loyola Marymount, Gonzaga and Montana. . . . Center Koko Lahanas, who leads the Big West women in scoring, also ranks second in the nation this week with a 26.1-point average. She is second in the Big West in field-goal percentage at 59%.