Wozniak’s Perfect Position Is a Painful One for Titans

It was a bang-bang shootout finish and it was Cal Poly San Luis Obispo still standing at the end.

Mike Wozniak made an eight-foot rebound basket at the buzzer that gave the Mustangs a 96-94 victory over Cal State Fullerton in Big West basketball Thursday night in Mott Gymnasium.

The Titans’ Chris Dade had connected on a three-point shot with slightly more than four seconds left to tie the score, but the Mustangs pushed the ball down court in time to get a three-point attempt that Jabbar Washington missed. Wozniak, however, was in perfect position for the rebound.

The defeat left Fullerton (10-5, and 5-10 in the conference) still uncertain of making the Big West tournament next week in Reno going into its regular-season finale Saturday at UC Santa Barbara, which fell to 4-11 in the conference. The Titans can be assured of a berth with a victory over Santa Barbara. San Luis Obispo (13-14, 6-9) is not eligible for the tournament.

“To get the ball down court that quick and get a rebound basket is amazing,” San Luis Obispo Coach Jeff Schneider said. “That was a great college basketball game. I went into my office after the game, and I was crying like a kid.”

Wozniak and Dade, who have been two of the conference’s top scorers all season, both had big games. Wozniak finished with 28 points, connecting on 10 of 18 from the field and three of five from three-point range. Dade had a career-high 30 points, going 10 of 21 from the floor including six of 11 from three-point range. The Titans’ Ike Harmon had 22 points, all but one in the second half.

The Titans lost despite their best rebounding effort of the season, controlling that part of the game, 53-30. Mark Richardson had a career-high 14 to go with 14 points for Fullerton.

“We’ve not outrebounded anyone by 23 all year,” Titan Coach Bob Hawking said. “Usually when you do that you win the game. But they made a critical play at a critical time. That’s why Wozniak is such a great player.”

Dade also was under heavy pressure on his shot with 4.6 seconds to go, but managed to get it away. “I thought we were headed for overtime after that,” Schneider said.

Said Wozniak: “Dade hit an incredible shot, but we got it down quickly. I’ve always been taught that on last-second shot you go for it, and I had just enough time to follow it up.”

Fullerton had an 86-80 lead with three minutes 40 seconds to play before San Luis Obispo battled back. Jeremiah Mayes, who had a career-high 19 points as a reserve, mad a key basket inside and Wozniak a three-pointer to bring San Luis Obispo back.

The Titans shot 50% from the field, but made only nine of 17 free throws. The Mustangs had 33 free throws and made 26 and shot 49.2% from the field.

The Titans got off to a good start, leading 17-10 midway through the first half, but San Luis Obispo came back to cut into the deficit, and the score was tied, 38-38, at halftime.

The Titans dominated rebounding in the first half, 26-17, with Richardson getting eight. Dade had 13 points in the first half, and Matt Caldwell came in off the bench to score eight in six minutes.

The teams were never separated by more than a nine-point lead by San Luis Obiso with 14 minutes left.