Cal State Fullerton Spoils Loyola’s Trip, Undefeated Season

It’s not every day Cal State Fullerton beats a 5-0 team by 21 points, especially a team with an NCAA championship banner hanging in its gym.

But before the Titans get too happy about their 89-68 victory over Loyola Chicago Saturday night at Titan Gym in front of 953, it must be noted that the Ramblers’ victories came against Eastern Kentucky, St. Peters, Kent, Chicago State and Robert Morris and that NCAA banner is 33 years old.

“Coach never said who they played and who they beat,” Fullerton guard Chris St. Clair said. “I thought they looked good on tape. He didn’t want to tell us anything more about them. But I’m happy the way we played. We came out focused from the start.”

Fullerton (4-2), coming off a 24-point loss at San Diego, came out pressuring Loyola’s guards from the start and never let up. The Titans jumped to an 8-0 lead on John Williams’ three short field goals and Craig Whitehead’s bank shot and never looked back.

They took a 39-28 halftime lead and put the game away in the second half with a 12-2 run that gave them a 58-41 lead with 13 minutes left. The lead grew to 85-56 before Fullerton Coach Bob Hawking cleared his bench.

The victory margin was Hawking’s biggest in two seasons and was Fullerton’s biggest since February, 1994, when the Titans whipped Nevada, 97-72. The main contributors to the blowout were Williams and Chris Dade, who combined for 48 points.

Williams scored 25 points, shooting 10 of 15, and also had eight rebounds and three blocks. Dade scored 23 points and had five assists and three steals.

“We gave Williams too many easy layups,” Loyola Coach Ken Burmeister said. “He plays with great position. He pins his defender and we were always a step behind him.”

When Williams wasn’t dunking, Dade was bombing. He scorched the Ramblers by nailing five of six three-pointers, many from far beyond the arc.

Fullerton made 10 of 20 three-pointers and shot 51% from the field.

Loyola’s statistics appeared daunting. The Ramblers were second in the nation in field goal percentage and fifth in three-point percentage. Twice, they had scored more than 100 points. But their guards apparently never played against any kind of pressure.

Starters Derek Molis and Dominic Okon and forward Charles Smith, who often brought the ball upcourt, combined for 10 turnovers and only three assists. Starting point guard Earl Brown was out because of a broken hand.

“Coach [Jeff] Dunlap said their guards were really weak and we pressed them the whole night,” said St. Clair, who had 12 points and three assists.

The Ramblers’ field-goal percentage (55%) will take a tumble after their shooting performance Saturday (43%), and their three-point shooting percentage of 48% will tumble after a six-of-15 showing. Loyola’s only bright spot was Molis, who shot five of 10 from three-point range and finished with 18 points.

Maybe Loyola should have stayed in Chicago.

“We get the jump ball, we fumble it and it went down from there,” Burmeister said.

If the Ramblers had another game on the West Coast, they probably could deal with the blowout easier. But they came all the way out west for one game.

“We have a lot of alumni out here,” Burmeister said. “We contacted 18 of 20 schools out here but nobody wanted to play us. I guess nobody wants to go back to the Midwest.”

Nobody but Fullerton, who will play Loyola in Chicago next season.