Titan Season Ends in Typical Fashion

Cal State Fullerton, out of the Big West tournament for the first time in its 21-year history, finished the regular season Sunday on a typical sour note.

San Jose State toyed with the last-place Titans, 90-80, in front of 1,745 Sunday at the Events Center on its way to the postseason tournament, which begins Friday in Reno.

“I don’t want to talk about the season,” Fullerton Coach Bob Hawking said. “Let’s talk about this game. Just ask me some questions.”

Hawking, who was trying to solve a problem at home by a long distance call immediately after the Titans dropped their fifth in a row and ninth of the last 10, developed a bad mood quickly.

San Jose State forward Sam Allen was hot in the first half, missing only one of 11 shots in scoring 21 of his 30 points.

“We did a good job on Olivier Saint-Jean,” Hawking said about the other Spartan forward. “But Sam Allen stepped up and had a career game for them. Whenever a guy goes 10 for 11 in a half, it has a tendency to impact the game.”

Fullerton (6-20, 5-13) fell behind by as many as 19 points in the first half and trailed at the half, 46-31.

“I feel badly for the guy,” San Jose State Coach Stan Morrison said about Hawking. “But he is to be commended right now because he has every right to be proud of his players. They were short-handed but they didn’t roll over and die at halftime.”

In 22 seconds, guard Chris Dade scored seven points, cutting the deficit to 11 points just 1 minute 52 seconds into the half. Four points came when Dade was fouled when making a three-pointer, the next three when he was fouled making a two-pointer.

And later in the half, Chuck Overton’s two free throws sliced the San Jose advantage to single-digits, 71-62, with 8:08 left.

That was the Titans’ last gasp.

Overton, the only Titan senior, closed out his career with a team-high 25 points. Dade, a sophomore, scored 22 points.

Things looked bleak for San Jose State (10-16, 9-9) earlier in the season. The Spartans were 4-15 at one point. On Feb. 3, they capped a seven-game losing streak with a one-point loss at New Mexico State.

“What turned things around was a meeting we had in a hotel room before that game,” said Spartans’ forward Roy Hammonds, who scored 15 points and had 14 rebounds. “It was a wake-up call. We had a whole change of attitude in that game. Even though we lost that night, we played together as a team.”

Afterward, Morrison said the Titans are young and they’ll be back in the tournament next year. San Jose State will be in the WAC next year.

Said Hawking: “We played young guys all year long.”