Fullerton Suffers Another Road Slip

Cal State Fullerton became basketball road kill again Tuesday night.

This time it was Loyola of Chicago that ran down the Titans, 73-59, in front of 3,253 in Gentile Center, handing Fullerton its fifth loss without a victory away from home this season. It was another striking contrast to the Titans’ five victories at home, as well as to Fullerton’s 21-point victory over the Ramblers last season in Titan Gym. Fullerton shot only 36.1% from the field, and tied its season scoring low.

“We weren’t cohesive enough offensively to generate anything,” Titan Coach Bob Hawking said.

It has become a familiar pattern for Fullerton away from Titan Gym. The Titans have lost 11 consecutive games on the road over two seasons since winning at UC Irvine last January.

Guard Chris Dade, who has been Fullerton’s most consistent player and top scorer with a 19-point average, felt the sting this time, swarmed by Loyola’s aggressive defense.

Dade was held to five points, his season low, and had only two points before finally hitting a three-point basket with 1 minute 17 seconds left in the game. That was after six misses from behind the arc. Dade finished two of 13 from the field.

“In my mind, Dade is an NBA-type player,” Loyola Coach Ken Burmeister said. “We watched film of Fullerton’s game with UCLA, and there were a few future NBA players on the floor that night, and Dade stayed right with them. We knew he was the player who could hurt us the most.”

Loyola (8-6) matched its top defensive player, sophomore Damien McSwine, against Dade, and Burmeister was pleased with the results that helped produce Loyola’s fourth consecutive victory. “That’s as fine a defensive performance as I’ve seen against a player of Dade’s caliber,” Burmeister said.

Dade also gave McSwine credit for a good effort. “He played me pretty tough,” Dade said. “He really stuck with me.”

Loyola’s emphasis on stopping Dade gave guard Chris St. Clair some additional scoring opportunities from outside, and St. Clair responded by making six of 10 three-point shots to finish with 22 points, his second best scoring night of the season. Sophomore forward Ike Harmon scored 17 points and had a team-high eight rebounds.

But it was wasn’t enough to save Fullerton.

“When you shoot 36% that’s what you’re going to score,” Hawking said. “We were probably lucky to have 59 points shooting like that, but you have to give Loyola some credit. They played good defense.”

The Ramblers got 15 or more points from three players. Guard Earl Brown scored 21, Javan Goodman 19 and McSwine 15.

“Brown and McSwine had big games for them,” Hawking said. “We expected it out of Goodman because he’s been their top guy all season.”

Brown was seven of 11 from the field and Goodman seven of 10, helping boost Loyola to 52.1% shooting from the field. The Ramblers made 18 of 24 free throws. Fullerton made only eight of 21 at the line. However, neither Dade or St. Clair, who are Fullerton’s top free-throw shooters, had one chance at the line.

The Titans were outrebounded, 41-32, with Goodman getting 11.

Loyola was strong at the start, making 10 of its first 12 shots from the floor to build a 23-10 lead. The Ramblers shot 53.8% in the first half and led, 38-25, at halftime. The Titans were never closer than seven points in the second half, and Loyola quickly pushed the lead back to 17 points with nine minutes remaining.

“We’ve played a lot of road games, and hopefully that will help us when we get into the Big West season,” Hawking said. “We know we’ll have to play eight on the road there.”

Fullerton begins the Big West season with road games at New Mexico State and North Texas, Jan. 8 and 10.