Titans Skid to Sixth Loss in a Row

Cal State Fullerton and UC Santa Barbara continued moving in opposite directions Thursday night.

A return to Titan Gym did nothing to save the sagging Titans from their sixth consecutive loss, the longest losing streak for Fullerton since the 1995-96 season.

Santa Barbara won its fifth consecutive game and its seventh in its last eight, 82-67, and solidified its hold on second place in the Big West Conference’s Western Division. The Gauchos also clinched a spot in the postseason tournament.

The loss by Fullerton (8-14, 3-8), combined with Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s victory over UC Irvine, left those three teams tied for fourth place in the division. Only the top four in each division advance to the conference tournament.

Santa Barbara (11-11, 7-4) got a big boost from a career-high 28-point effort from reserve Brandon Payton, whose brother Gary plays for the Seattle Supersonics. Payton connected on five of seven three-point shots.

His teammate, guard Erick Ashe, who played at Fullerton College, made five of 10 three-point shots in a 21-point effort. Adama Ndiaye finished with a career-high 19 for the Gauchos.

“We couldn’t stop them in the key moments of the game,” Titan guard Kenroy Jarrett said. “Payton got some big baskets for them.’

The game was tied, 32-32, at halftime, but Santa Barbara came out strong in the second half, taking a quick six-point lead. Then Fullerton missed five consecutive free throws while the Gauchos were building a 57-41 cushion.

“Early in the second half, they were hitting their shots and we just weren’t hitting ours,” Fullerton Coach Bob Hawking said.

Santa Barbara shot 55.6% in the second half and 45% for the game. The Titans used a zone most of the way.

“We knew Santa Barbara was leading the conference in three-point shooting, but we thought the zone was the way for us to go,” Hawking said. “Payton and Ashe shot extremely well.

“But we didn’t do a very good job of guarding them. We have no excuses. We should be playing better than we are, but our margin of error is very small.”

Santa Barbara Coach Bob Williams said the Titan zone was more effective than it might have appeared at times.

“It bothered us,” he said. “It seemed to make us stagnant inside in the first half, but fortunately we shot the ball well.”

Fullerton shot 43.3% in the second half and finished at 44.1%. The Titans, however, made only seven of 15 free throws to 18 of 25 for the Gauchos.

“I don’t have any real explanation for that,” Hawking said. “We went on a stretch where we didn’t convert or make a free throw and they capitalized on it. You have to play at both ends of the court.”

Jarrett led the Titans with 14 points, and guard Mark Murphy had 12. Ike Harmon finished with 11 points, well below his 17-point average. Harmon didn’t start the game but came in less than five minutes into the game.

“He didn’t start because he missed practice earlier in the week with the flu,” Hawking said. “He didn’t practice at all on Monday or Tuesday.”

Santa Barbara had a 38-36 rebounding advantage.

“Our rebounding has gotten better, but we’ve got to do better in other phases of the game too,” Hawking said.

The Titans play San Luis Obispo at home Saturday night.