Brown Pushes, but Fullerton Hangs On

Brown didn’t look much like a basketball team that has won only once this season Saturday night against Cal State Fullerton.

But for much of the game, Fullerton didn’t look like a team that has put together the second-best record in the Big West so far in nonconference games.

As it turned out, however, Fullerton showed just enough poise down the stretch to turn back Brown, 61-57, in front of 1,777 in Titan Gym.

The Titans made five of six free throws in the final 30 seconds, two of two by Chris Dade and three of four by Ali Nayab, to go with John Williams’ game-high 20-point performance.

“Our kids haven’t folded their tent at crunch time this season, and they didn’t again,” Titan Coach Bob Hawking said. “It wasn’t an artistic game, but I thought Brown did a great job against us. Their kids played with a lot of savvy. They’ve played a tough schedule, but they’ve been competitive, and they certainly were competitive against us.”

Fullerton (6-2) had only six victories in 26 games last season. The victory marks the first time the Titans have won six of their first eight since the 1990-91 season. Brown fell to 1-7.

The Titans made the most of a meager offensive effort. Guard Chris St. Clair (10 points) and Williams were the only Titans to score in double figures.

Fullerton shot only 38.3% from the field. The Titans made only two of their first nine shots from the floor and nine of 28 (32.1%) in the first half but led, 22-20, at the break. The Bears didn’t do much better in the first half, shooting 35% from the field. They improved to 44.7% for the game.

The Titans went on a 14-1 run at the start of the second half, and that was the difference. St. Clair had two three-point baskets in that flurry, but it was Williams who took control in the second half with 11 points.

Fullerton led by 15 with slightly under 12 minutes left, but Brown rallied to cut the deficit to one point, 56-55, when Aaron Butler, who led Brown with 14 points, made a driving layup and free throw with 35 seconds left.

But Dade sank two consecutive free throws to keep Fullerton ahead, and Nayab added two more with 10 seconds left after grabbing a key rebound.

“They got us playing their game at the start of the second half, and that made a big difference,” Brown Coach Frank Dobbs said. “We settled down after that and got back to playing good defense, but we had to play catch-up the rest of the way. I give our players credit for staying with them though. We were focused for about about 35 of the 40 minutes.”

Dobbs thought his team did a good job of keeping the pressure on Williams.

“That was our intent,” Dobbs said. “We wanted to take the game away from him if we could.”

Williams also was impressed with Brown’s defensive effort. “They played real good in the second half,” Williams said. “They double-teamed me a lot and it was tough to even get a look at the basket.”

Williams had no explanation for Fullerton’s sluggish first half against Brown, as well as in the Titans’ previous victory against Pepperdine. “I just know I’ve had trouble getting into the game in the first half lately,” he said.

Hawking, however, is happy that his team has come back in each of the last two games. “We have a motto about playing hard in the second half because that’s when most games are decided,” he said.

Hawking also is pleased with the 6-2 record going into Monday night’s game against another Ivy League team, Columbia.

“It’s a great start for us,” Hawking said. “But that’s what we regard it as: a start. It’s important now that we concentrate on learning from each game and continuing to get better.”