Titans Shut Down Betts, Beat Long Beach State

Cal State Fullerton didn’t have Chris Dade for Thursday night’s game against Long Beach State, but the Titans evened things up by virtually taking the 49ers’ 7-foot-1 Andrew Betts out of it too.

Dade had four teeth pulled this week and wasn’t able to play, but without their top scorer the Titans managed a 61-52 victory over the 49ers in front of 1,918 at the Pyramid.

Fullerton (7-8, 2-3) held Betts to three shots from the field and two points. Betts had averaged 30 points in two Big West Conference games last weekend and was averaging 20 this season. This time he was foul-plagued, picking up his fourth early in the second half and fouling out with 1 1/2 minutes to play.

“We were able to keep the ball out of his hands, and that was the key,” Titan Coach Bob Hawking said. “He’s been a real force in the Big West in his last four games, and I think we took him out of their game plan.”

With Dade missing the first game of his four-year career--he had played in 94 in a row--the Titans got 15 points from Ike Harmon, 11 from Craig Whitehead and 10 from Chris St. Clair.

Guard Antrone Lee scored 22 points for the 49ers (7-10, 2-3), but it wasn’t enough to make up for the missing scoring punch inside.

It was Fullerton’s first victory on the road against Long Beach since the 1989-90 season. “As a senior, this was really a good one for me,” St. Clair said. “Long Beach has had some good teams during that time. We talked in the locker room before the game that we had to step up without [Dade].” The 49ers played without senior guard Quincy Nuckles, their second-leading scorer. Nuckles injured his left thumb Saturday night against North Texas. Coach Wayne Morgan announced before the game that Nuckles probably will miss the rest of the season after X-rays showed a fracture.

Harmon also was at less than full strength after aggravating a sprained big toe on his right foot against Boise State Saturday.

Morgan gave Fullerton credit for a solid defensive performance. “Fullerton worked hard, and they shaded their defense for Betts,” Morgan said. The Titans played a 2-3 zone, and it worked well. “We knew [Betts] was a strong inside player, so we had to keep him from getting the ball,” Harmon said. “It was a matter of who stayed with their game plan the best.”

Neither team shot well. Fullerton was only 35.1% from the field compared to 39.3% for Long Beach. The Titans had a big advantage at the free-throw line, making 17 of 35 to four of 12 for the 49ers.

Morgan said the foul problems were particularly costly to Betts. “If he wasn’t out of the game as much with fouls we would have gotten him the ball more,” Morgan said. Betts played 25 minutes.

The Titans scored 13 consecutive points to take an early 13-2 lead. Then Long Beach came back to outscore the Titans, 20-3, and lead, 23-18, with slightly less than six minutes to play in the first half. Fullerton went six minutes, 53 seconds without scoring, and the first half ended with Long Beach leading, 29-23.

The Titans battled back in the second half and led, 49-42, with slightly more than five minutes to play after St. Clair nailed a three-point shot and Harmon was open for a 10-foot jumper.

The key basket for Fullerton came when Mark Richardson rebounded a missed shot and made a short jump shot with 2:25 left to give the Titans a 53-47 lead.

“Every game lately has been a dogfight,” said Hawking, whose team had lost three conference games by a total of seven points. “Nothing comes easy for us. We didn’t clinch this one until about 10 seconds left.”

Dade said he expects to be back for Fullerton’s game Saturday night at Pacific.