Titans Absorb Pacific Beating

Pacific and 7-foot center Michael Olowokandi underlined the drastic difference between the Tigers and Cal State Fullerton again Thursday night.

Olowokandi scored a career-high 32 points and carried the Tigers to their 11th consecutive victory, 71-57, in Titan Gym. It was Pacific’s ninth victory in the last 10 games against the Titans, and boosted the Tigers’ record to 18-8, 11-2 in the Big West.

The loss wiped out Fullerton’s last hope to equal last year’s 13-13 regular-season record. The Titans are doomed to their fifth consecutive year without a winning regular season, four of them under Coach Bob Hawking, who is in the final year of a three-year contract. No decision on Hawking’s future will be made until after the season, Athletic Director John Easterbrook said.

Fullerton (9-14, 4-9) remains in the running for a berth in the Big West postseason tournament with conference games left against Long Beach State, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and UC Santa Barbara.

But the Titans were no match for Olowokandi, who put on a show in front of representatives from eight NBA teams, including the Lakers’ Jerry West.

“Those NBA scouts weren’t here for no reason at all,” Hawking said. “Olowokandi has a tremendous amount of natural talent. He’s very physical. We tried to pound on him, but we couldn’t budge him.”

Fullerton’s best hope of countering Olowokandi was with the shooting of guard Chris Dade, but that wasn’t enough. Dade scored 26 points, making eight of 11 shots from the floor. “He had an exceptional night,” Hawking said.

The Titans, however, didn’t have anyone else in double figures. Ike Harmon, who has been the Titans’ leading scorer since Big West play began, was held to four points, his season low. Harmon made only two of 11 shots from the field.

Pacific Coach Bob Thomason said Olowokandi’s performance reflected his recent improvement.

“He’s been so much more active and relentless lately,” Thomason said. “And our guys are doing a better job of finding him. We’re much more patient now.” Pacific shot 50.9% from the floor to only 36.8% for Fullerton, and controlled rebounding, 42-30.

The Titans got off to a good start and led, 22-14, midway through the first half after Dade made a three-point shot, but the Tigers came back to score 13 consecutive points, seven of them by Olowokandi.

That put Pacific ahead 27-22 before Harmon broke the string with a layup. The Tigers went on to lead 36-29 at halftime, thanks to Olowokandi’s 19 points. The Titans shot only 37% in the first half, though Dade was five for seven from the field and three of five from three-point range.

Thomason thought his team matched up better with the Titans after going to a zone after Fullerton’s fast start.

“The Dade matchup was tougher on us this time without Corey Anders,” Thomason said. Anders, the Tigers’ third-leading scorer and a top defender, is out for the season after breaking his thumb Feb. 7.

Pacific was strong from the start in the second half and went ahead by 20 points with slightly more than nine minutes left in the game. Olowokandi went to the sidelines with four fouls with 7 minutes 10 seconds to go and didn’t return. By then, Pacific didn’t need him, and the Tigers led by 20 points with slightly less than two minutes left.

“I almost put him back in, but why take a chance on something happening?” Thomason said.