More Tough Times for Titans : College basketball: Cal State Fullerton loses to Santa Barbara, 80-69, as Peterson sits out the game with an injured finger.

Things haven’t been going well for Cal State Fullerton lately, and they certainly didn’t change for the better Saturday night against UC Santa Barbara.

The Titans lost the eighth Big West Conference basketball game in their last nine, 80-69, this time with center Winston Peterson out with an injured little finger on his left hand.

Peterson, the Titans’ leading scorer with a 17-point average, did not suit up but sat on the bench with the team. Peterson said he injured the finger against Long Beach State Thursday night. He scored only seven points in that game, his second-lowest output of the season, breaking a string of 14 consecutive double-figure scoring performances. His four rebounds also matched a season low.

“I couldn’t bend the finger, and it’s swollen,” Peterson said after the game.

Fullerton Coach Bob Hawking said: “He told me before the game he was in too much pain to play, and I couldn’t ask him to play if that’s the case.”

Santa Barbara (13-11 and 8-8 in the conference) ended a stretch of five consecutive losses against the Titans, including two in a row in the Thunderdome. Fullerton (7-18, 5-12) remained one victory short of its total last season.

Hawking said he was pleased with his team’s effort despite being down to eight players because of injuries.

“The kids competed well,” Hawking said, “but we just weren’t shooting well enough. Their size certainly was a factor in the game. We had to play with four guards in the game quite a bit of the time.”

The Titans shot only 37.7% from the floor compared to 48.4% for Santa Barbara, which took advantage of the Titans’ lack of size inside. Mark Flick scored 18 points and Doug Muse had 15 for the Gauchos.

Chuck Overton had 19, Dave Harrison 18 and Danny Robinson 17 for the Titans. It was Robinson’s career high.

The Gauchos had a 49-36 rebounding advantage.

“When Peterson didn’t play it was tough on them,” Santa Barbara Coach Jerry Pimm said. “But they played hard on defense and really got into it. We had the advantage inside and got some things out of it. We also went with the running game because we knew they were short on numbers. They didn’t shoot the ball that well, and I think it was because they got tired.”

Peterson’s absence left the Titan starting lineup without a true center. The tallest starter was Harrison at 6-7.

Freshman guard Chris Dade started even though he sustained an ankle sprain against Long Beach and was wearing an air cast to support it. His performance was clearly affected. Dade was scoreless and missed eight shots from the field.

The Titans lost guard Chris St. Clair with a knee injury last week and forward David Frigout remained sidelined with an ankle sprain.

Despite their weakened situation, the Titans took a 17-11 lead with James French getting a three-pointer and a layup to go with a driving basket by Overton, who scored 10 first-half points. The Gauchos scored eight consecutive points to take the lead at 26-24 with about four minutes left in the first half.

The Gauchos went on to score 13 points to only four for the Titans during the stretch late in the first half and led, 33-28. The half ended with Santa Barbara on top, 36-34.