Titans Finally Win on the Road

Cal State Fullerton won its fourth consecutive game and picked up its first victory on the road this season by beating San Diego State Wednesday night.

The Titans also got a big boost in confidence.

Ike Harmon fouled out with slightly more than six minutes left, but the Titans held on for a 72-66 victory over the Aztecs in front of 1,946 in Cox Arena.

“Several players stepped up, and that’s what it takes to win on the road,” Harmon said. “Hopefully this will help us a lot, and help our confidence when we go back on the road.”

Sophomore Brandon Campbell scored a career-high 20 points, and freshman Dan Thompson came off the bench to get 16, his best effort of the season. Harmon finished with 15, along with five assists and eight rebounds in 26 minutes.

“Brandon was able to take advantage of them focusing a lot on me, and he finished a lot of plays really well,” Harmon said. “That’s what it takes. That’s going to be my role more.”

The Titans (5-5) led by only two points with slightly less than two minutes to play after center Josh Fischer was called for his fifth foul, but Mark Murphy stole the ball from Aztec forward Myron Epps, setting up a rebound layup by point guard Kenroy Jarrett.

That lifted Fullerton to a four-point lead, and Murphy made four free throws in the final 16 seconds.

The Titans made 15 of 19 free throws in the second half and shot 47.4% from the field for the game. Campbell was eight for 11 and Thompson five for seven from the floor.

“That was a good win for us on the road,” Titan Coach Bob Hawking said. “We were able to survive despite a couple of guys in foul trouble. It’s something we can build on.”

The Titans led by as many as 13 points in the first half. Thompson scored 10 points and Fullerton built a 29-16 lead on seven consecutive points. Epps, however, scored the last five points of the half to cut San Diego State’s deficit to 31-23.

The Aztecs (5-7) scored the first six points of the second half and kept the pressure on the rest of the way, taking the lead at 60-59. At that point, Campbell scored to put Fullerton back in front to stay.

“We outrebounded somebody for one of few times this season, and we hit our free throws down the stretch,” Hawking said. “We also got a little more solid defensively late in the game. They had done a good job of getting the ball inside on us.”

Fullerton had a 33-28 advantage on the boards, but gave up 21 points to Epps, who led San Diego State.

Hawking said he was particularly pleased by the efforts of Campbell and Thompson. “We know Thompson can play when he’s healthy,” Hawking said. “He’s a good shooter and he does a lot of things that don’t show up in the box score.”

Thompson has played in only four of Fullerton’s 10 games because of a stress fracture in his right foot.