Fullerton Wins in a Rout

Many of the season-high 1,310 at Titan Gym on Thursday were there to see Cal State Fullerton’s baseball team pick up its College World Series rings and unfurl its national-championship banner.

The Titan men’s basketball team won some new fans with a convincing 88-71 victory over hapless Long Beach State, but the good feelings were muted by a potentially serious knee injury to starting forward Hardy Asprilla.

With 6:52 remaining in the second half, Asprilla went down on the court clutching his right knee as he battled Long Beach’s Cody Pearson for a rebound. Fullerton trainer Brent Smedley said the senior would be reevaluated today once the swelling subsides.

“Obviously, the thing that’s disconcerting is Hardy,” Fullerton Coach Bob Burton said. “If [the knee] goes out, there’s a problem. He’s the one guy we can’t afford to miss.”

Asprilla, the team’s best defensive player, ranks second in the Big West with 8.8 rebounds per game. The Colombian native had 10 points and nine rebounds before being helped off the court.

“Hardy’s our inspirational guy,” forward Jamaal Brown said. “It’s going to hurt us. But we’ve got to step up much more now.”

Yaphett King led five Titans, 8-4 overall and 3-1 in the Big West, in double figures with 20 points.

Brown got Fullerton out quickly by scoring eight of his team’s first 10 points.

The 49ers (2-12, 0-5), led by Jibril Hodges’ 20 points, stayed close until the 17-minute mark in the second half but wilted defensively under Fullerton’s relentless up-tempo style.