Fullerton Turns Defensive Against Portland

Cal State Fullerton got its offense in gear in the final 10 minutes Saturday and won its fifth consecutive game at Titan Gym without a loss this season, 72-61 over Portland.

“We just didn’t have a whole lot of life,” Titan Coach Bob Hawking said. “I don’t know whether it was the week off, or a week of finals or what.”

The Titans (5-3) were outrebounded by 17 and shot only 36% from the field in the sluggish first half.

“It seemed to take us 20 minutes just to get back into the swing of things,” Hawking said.

But Fullerton elevated its defense in the second half, and improvement on offense seemed to follow. The Titans shot 56.3% in the second half to finish at 46.6%, and ended up with a 46-44 rebounding advantage.

“We were so stagnant on offense in the first half, we felt we had to do something to get it going, so we turned up the heat on defense,” Hawking said.

The Titans won despite an off night by its two senior guards, Chris Dade and Chris St. Clair. Dade, the second leading scorer in the Big West Conference, was held to a season-low of 11 points and St. Clair had 12.

Dade was only three of 13 from the field and St. Clair two of eight. They were a combined two for eight on three-point shots.

Sophomore forward Ike Harmon and reserve center Matt Caldwell picked up the slack. Harmon finished with 17 points and six rebounds, and Caldwell scored 16.

Caldwell scored eight consecutive points at the start of the second half. “He gave us a real spark at that point,” Hawking said.

Portland managed to hold onto the lead until St. Clair made a pair of free throws to put Fullerton ahead by a point with seven minutes left. That began a streak of eight consecutive Titan points.

DeVaughn Wright picked up a basket inside, Craig Whitehead a fast-break drive, and Dade connected from outside for a 60-53 Titan lead with five minutes left. Fullerton’s pressure defense opened up the game at that point, and Harmon scored eight of 10 Titan points to take Fullerton out of Portland’s reach.