Pepperdine Blows Lead to Fullerton

With fewer than 14 minutes left in the game, Pepperdine led Cal State Fullerton by eight points and it looked as though the Titans were about to come apart at the seams.

It was so bad that John Williams’ open dunk shot rattled out of the basket, and DeVaughn Wright missed the two-foot follow.

But Fullerton (5-2) managed to turn it around at that point and went on to a 65-54 nonconference basketball victory Saturday night before 921 at Titan Gym.

The Titans outscored the Waves, 26-7, during an 11-minute span in the final 12 minutes, handing Pepperdine (1-8) its seventh consecutive loss.

“We were in control three-quarters of the game, but we didn’t do it in the quarter that counts,” Pepperdine Coach Lorenzo Romar said.

Titan Coach Bob Hawking gave a lot of the credit for that to Williams, who finished with 21 points, all but six of them in the second half, and guard Ali Nayab, who came off the bench to score 15.

Williams scored six consecutive points to get Fullerton back in gear, and Nayab made a layup and free throw that put the Titans ahead to stay, 51-48, with more than five minutes left.

“We were trying to get Williams the ball more earlier, but they did a good job of fronting him and working behind him,” Hawking said. “We were able to get to him more in the second half and that really helped.”

Williams said Marc McDowell’s foul trouble in the second half helped him get more room inside.

“I knew he had three fouls starting the second half, so I wanted to take it right to him,” Williams said. “He was playing back on his heels after that.”

McDowell was Pepperdine’s leading scorer with 13 points. He fouled out with four minutes 15 seconds left.

“It hurt us when McDowell went out,” Romar said. “He’s our best post defender, and he’d done a very good job on Williams.”

Pepperdine kept guard Chris Dade from scoring in double figures for the first time this season, although he made an important three-point shot to boost Fullerton’s lead to nine points with less than two minutes remaining. Dade, who finished with seven points, managed only two shots in the first half, and didn’t get his first field goal until two minutes into the second half.

“I thought Pepperdine did a good job on Dade the whole game,” Hawking said.

The Titans shot only 25.9% in the first half and trailed, 25-21, at halftime. Fullerton shot 37.3% for the game, but the Titans were helped by a 39-36 rebounding advantage and by making 17 of 27 free throws. Pepperdine was 11 of 20 from the foul line, and shot 43.2%.

“We knew Fullerton was a good perimeter-shooting team,” Romar said. “So I thought we did a real good job on them in the first half. We didn’t give them a chance to get set on their threes.

“We had a 10-point lead a couple of times. What’s most disappointing to me is that our kids really worked hard, but didn’t come out with a win.”

Romar thought Fullerton’s press was particularly effective in the second half.

“We were rattled by it,” Romar said. The Waves had 24 turnovers.

“We were very lackluster in the first half, our own worst enemy,” Hawking said.