Titans Gain Momentum by Defeating UNLV

Cal State Fullerton is suddenly making its presence felt in the Big West Conference men’s basketball race.

The Titans, who won only once in nonconference play and were picked to finish last by Big West coaches in the preseason, boosted their conference record to 3-3 Thursday night before 1,106 in Titan Gym with a 64-61 victory over Nevada Las Vegas.

Freshman Kenroy Jarrett made a free throw with 13 seconds left to give Fullerton the three-point lead. That forced UNLV to go for a three-pointer to tie, and a shot by Chancellor Davis was partially blocked and fell short.

UNLV had called time out after Jarrett missed the first of two free throws, but Jarrett said he was confident about the next one.

“I told the guys on the bench that I was going to make it,” said Jarrett, who also made one of two free throws with 30 seconds left. “I was a good free-throw shooter in high school. I just haven’t seemed to have that many free throws yet in college.” Jarrett had only four free throws in the first 13 games, making two of them.

Davis had scored with 23 seconds left to cut Fullerton’s lead to 63-61.

“This was a good win for us,” Titan Coach Bob Hawking said. “UNLV is still UNLV in our minds.”

Fullerton (4-10) has won three consecutive games at home after losing its first four in Titan Gym this season. UNLV fell to 6-8, 3-3 in the conference after winning five of its previous seven games, including a two-point victory over Michigan in late December.

Guard Chris Dade led the Titans with 16 points, even though he was only four for 14 from the field. Hawking, however, gave him credit for another strong defensive effort--he held Jermaine Smith to three points. Reserve forward Tony Lane led the Rebels with 19 points and Davis finished with 14.

“Chris’ defense was one of the real keys to the game for us,” Hawking said. “He did an outstanding job to check Smith the way he did. It was a break for us when he fouled out.”

Smith, averaging 14 points coming into the game, committed his fifth foul with slightly more than eight minutes left.

Titan forward John Williams, who missed Fullerton’s victory over UC Irvine Saturday with a swollen hand, returned and scored 13 points to go with a team-leading eight rebounds.

UNLV had a 41-35 rebounding advantage, but the Rebels were hurt by 17 turnovers, all but five of them in the first half. Fullerton shot 38% from the field compared to 44% for UNLV.

The Titans fell behind, 16-11, in the first half, but went on a 17-0 scoring run soon afterward and built a 34-23 halftime lead. Dade, who hit seven of eight shots from three-point range against UC Irvine, made his second three-point shot of the first half to get Fullerton rolling.

Everything that could go wrong for UNLV did during that stretch and the Titans picked up four points from reserve center Dirk Rassloff, two baskets by Chuck Overton and a three-pointer by Jarrett. UNLV’s turnovers, along with a series of missed opportunities after offensive rebounds, were particularly costly to the Rebels. UNLV went more than six minutes without a point before Clayton Johnson broke the streak with a free throw with 2:32 left in the first half.

UNLV Coach Bill Bayno said he thought the game came down to missed opportunities by his team and the turnovers in the first half. “And we didn’t get any big plays at the end,” he said.

Did the Rebels come into the game a bit overconfident?

“I think some teams have come in here thinking we were a pushover, and were not ready to play,” Jarrett said. “I think they overlooked us in the first half, although they played a lot better in the second half.”

Hawking said his team is continuing to improve. “We started two freshmen and two sophomores,” Hawking said. “We made some young mistakes, but we’ve had effort in every game, and now our execution is improving.”