Fullerton Finds New Gear, Races by St. Mary’s

For a while Saturday night, it looked as though Cal State Fullerton might be in for some trouble against St. Mary’s.

But that was just the way it looked.

Down by eight points midway through the second half, Fullerton switched into high gear and overwhelmed St. Mary’s in the final 10 minutes to complete a three-game sweep over West Coast Conference teams. The Titans had previously beaten Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount.

The 79-69 victory was the Titans’ fourth in a row and produced their best start since the 1992-93 season.

“We just need to take what we did at the end of the game and do it the whole game,” Titan point guard Kenroy Jarrett said.

Jarrett made a three-pointer and a follow shot after missing a fastbreak layup, and that got the Titans over the hump with five minutes left. He also made six consecutive free throws in the final 1 1/2 minutes.

But this was a night when just about everyone rose to the occasion at times for Fullerton (4-1).

Ike Harmon was back, though still slowed by an injured ankle. But that didn’t keep him from scoring 17 points--13 in the second half--and getting six rebounds.

The Titans had five players scoring in double figures, led by guard Mark Murphy’s 18. Matt Caldwell and Jason Cunningham had 13 each, and Jarrett finished with 11.

Cunningham also turned in a strong effort on defense against St. Mary’s top scoring threat, Eric Schraeder, who finished with 16 points on seven of 18 shots, going two for six on three-pointers.

“That was really a credit to Jason,” Titan Coach Bob Hawking said. “He denied Schraeder his touches and that worked. He was exhausted at the end he worked so hard.”

Hawking said he debated whether to use Cunningham or Mark Richardson on Schraeder, but decided on Cunningham. “We thought Jason could probably handle him better on the perimeter,” Hawking said.

While Cunningham turned in the key effort on defense, it was Harmon and Murphy who made several big plays on offense. Murphy was five of nine from field and three of six on three-point shots.

“Ike was at about 70%,” Hawking said, “but he’s a big-play guy, and he’s the one we like to go to when we need a basket.”

Harmon scored five key points in the Titan comeback, then put together five more in a row that gave the Titans a 10-point lead with slightly less than three minutes left.

“We lost this game because we didn’t play smart,” St. Mary’s Coach Dave Bollwinkel said. “Harmon hurt us when he took the ball to the basket. We knew he would do that, but we didn’t stop him. We expected him to play.”

Harmon said he wasn’t expecting to be ready.

“The ankle was still swollen on Friday, but this morning I was able to move it and I knew I could probably play.” Harmon said.

Fullerton shot 47% from the field compared to 39% for St. Mary’s (5-3). No Titan opponent has shot better than 40% from the field in five games.

The Titans got off to a good start with three quick baskets inside by Caldwell for an 11-2 lead, but that cushion disappeared midway through the first half.

The Titans went more than four minutes before they got their first point in the second half, and the Gaels went out to the eight-point lead. At that point, Harmon began making his presence felt.