Titans Hit the Bottom in Loss to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

Cal State Fullerton’s recent home-court futility has found a new low: a tie for last place in the Big West’s Western Division with Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

Cal Poly overcame a 10-point Fullerton halftime lead and went on to an 87-84 victory over the Titans Saturday night in front of 1,113 in Titan Gym. The outcome left both teams with 2-6 conference records.

The loss was the Titans’ fourth without a victory at home in conference play, and their eighth defeat in their last 10 games. Cal Poly (9-11) made six of eight three-point shots in the second half as Fullerton struggled. The Titans (7-11) made only seven of 30 three-point shots and three of those came in the final 19 seconds, after the game was decided.

Guard Chris St. Clair was one of 11 on three-pointers and missed 10 in a row before sinking the last shot of the game with two seconds to play.

“That’s an extreme performance for us,” Titan Coach Bob Hawking said. “We’ve been a better shooting team than that. And that’s not typical for St. Clair. We had a lot of open looks.”

The biggest three-point shot of the night came with 1 minute 38 seconds to go. Fullerton had cut the deficit to two points, 77-75, on a basket by Ike Harmon, but Watende Favors’ shot turned back the challenge. Ross Ketcham made two free throws for a seven-point Cal Poly lead with 46 seconds left. “It wasn’t a designed play,” Favors said. “But the guy who was guarding me slipped, and I was open.”

Fullerton limited Mike Wozniak, one of the Big West’s top scorers, to seven points in the first half, but a strong second half gave him 21. Harmon led the Titans with 26 points, with Chris Dade getting 20.

Hawking started three guards--Kenroy Jarrett, Dade and St. Clair--in an attempt to combat Cal Poly’s small, quick lineup. “We felt we needed to match up with their quickness,” Hawking said. “But I still didn’t think we were overwhelmed by their size. It got us off to a good start, and I don’t think it was a negative.”

Cal Poly, however, did have a decisive, 48-34, rebounding advantage. The Titans led at halftime, 46-36, thanks primarily to Harmon’s 11 points and strong play inside. Cal Poly shot only 36.7% in the first half, but turned it up quickly after the break.

The Mustangs scored the first seven points of the second half and came back to lead, 60-59, with 10 minutes left. Cal Poly led, 68-61, after Wozniak broke clear for two consecutive three-point shots. The Mustangs were in control the rest of the way.

“We switched to a zone with nine minutes to go and they got a little tentative with it,” Cal Poly Coach Jeff Schneider said. “We were able to make them use up some clock.”

St. Clair, who managed 12 points with five of six free throws, also thought the zone was effective. “We had no problem breaking through their press, but they played a tough zone,” he said.

But St. Clair had no explanation for his frustrating night. “The shots all felt good,” St. Clair said. “I don’t know what it was. It was just one of those nights, I guess.”

The most frustrating thing to Harmon was the Titans squandering the halftime lead.

“I don’t know what it is, but this team deserves a lot more than this, especially the seniors,” Harmon said. “We were hustling, but we made a lot of mental mistakes in the second half.

“We were pushing the ball in the first half, but then we went to drop-back passes in the second half. We let them control the tempo in the second half. They did what they wanted to do.”

Cal Poly made 24 of 34 free throws compared to 17 of 22 for the Titans. The Mustangs shot 51.6% from the field in the second half to 44.8% for Fullerton.