Staying on High Road, Titans Handle Loyola

For two consecutive years, Loyola Marymount guard Jim Williamson made a crucial basket late in the game to lift the Lions to victory over Cal State Fullerton.

Williamson made two steals in the final minute against the Titans Saturday night in Gersten Pavilion, but this time it wasn’t enough, and resurgent Fullerton held on for a 75-70 victory in front of 1,297.

It was the first time Fullerton has won three consecutive road games since the 1990-91 season and the Titans’ best start since the 1992-93 season when Brad Holland’s first team went 5-1.

“It’s great to be 3-1,” guard Ali Nayab said.

Nayab and guard Chris Dade sparked the Titans to their first victory in their last eight games against West Coast Conference teams. Nayab had a career-high 18 points, making seven of nine shots from the floor. Dade finished with 17 points and was four for eight on three-pointers. John Williams and Craig Whitehead each had 12 points.

“Ali actually was sick with a touch of the flu,” Titan Coach Bob Hawking said. “I didn’t know it until right before the game, but he really showed a lot in this game.”

Dade made a key three-point shot, and Williams added a free throw after a steal by Nayab to give Fullerton a 70-64 lead with two minutes to play. Nayab also connected on two free throws with slightly more than a minute left to keep the Titan lead at six points, but Williamson refused to let the Lions (2-4) crumble.

Williamson’s steal led to a layup by Will Jones that cut the deficit to 72-70 with 46 seconds left. Dade missed a free throw soon afterward, but got his own rebound, enabling Whitehead to pick up another point at the free-throw line.

Another steal by Williamson with 10 seconds left kept the Lions alive, but Jones missed from the corner, and Dade added two free throws with a second left.

“Williamson is like a double root-canal for an opposing coach,” Hawking said. “He looks like the ball boy when he comes into the gym, and he turns into Tarzan.”

Williamson finished with 14 points, all but two in the second half. Center Kenny Hotopp led the Lions with 16 points and a game-high 15 rebounds.

Loyola Coach John Olive said he wished he could have gotten Williamson in position for a possible game-tying three-pointer after his second steal. Two-years ago, Williamson’s 35-footer at the buzzer had beaten the Titans.

“I probably should have called time out, but I didn’t pull the trigger quick enough,” Olive said. “We tried to get what we could quickly after the steal.”

Fullerton was able overcome Loyola’s 43-29 rebounding advantage with 49.1% shooting from the floor. The Titans made nine of 15 three-point shots, and forced 18 turnovers. The Lions shot 40.7% from the field, but were helped by making 16 of 18 free throws.

Nayab scored 11 points in the first half to help Fullerton overcome Loyola’s 27-18 rebounding advantage before the break. The Titans led by eight points with 4 1/2 minutes left in the first half, but the Lions came back to take a 34-32 lead late in the first half. Nayab’s three-pointer, however, gave Fullerton a 35-34 lead at the break. Fullerton went on to lead by as many as 11 points with 6 1/2 minutes to play, before Loyola battled back.

Hawking was pleased his team was solid down the stretch, as the Titans were in earlier victories on the road at Brigham Young and Montana. “Most games are won in the last two minutes, and we tell our players that,” Hawking said. “You have to execute then, and we did that for the most part.”

Olive says this Fullerton team has more offensive weapons than the last two teams the Lions have beaten.

“They’ve always played very tenaciously, and they’ve always been able to shoot, but this team seems to have more people who can hurt you from the perimeter,” Olive said.

The Titans will go for their fourth consecutive road victory Tuesday at San Diego, where Holland is now the head coach.