Fresno State Ends Skid, Beats Fullerton

Fresno State Coach Boyd Grant presented George McQuarn, the Cal State Fullerton coach who announced his resignation last week, with a basket of San Joaquin Valley wine before Saturday’s game at Titan Gym.

There were those close to the once-powerful Fresno State program, including Grant himself, who were beginning to wonder if this year’s team had gone into early retirement, too. In nine seasons at Fresno, Grant had never lost four in a row, and when the Bulldogs staggered into Fullerton Saturday, they had a three-game losing streak weighing heavily on their minds.

These ‘Dogs may not be red hot, but they aren’t dead yet. Fresno State, playing what Grant called “our best complete game of the year,” earned a 61-54 Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. victory over Fullerton in front of 2,863 and a local television audience.

The win avenged Fresno’s 67-58 home loss to Fullerton Monday night, somewhat erased the memory of Thursday’s pathetic showing against UC Irvine and boosted the Bulldogs’ PCAA record to 6-7 and 13-11 overall. Fullerton is 5-7, 12-12.

“Now we have a pretty good shot at getting there (the PCAA Tournament),” Grant said.

The fact that Grant was sweating the possibility of missing the conference’s postseason tournament (eight of the PCAA’s 10 teams qualify) when four teams had worse records is indication enough of Fresno’s problems.

But the Bulldogs’ once-reknowned defense reappeared, they began to exhibit the intensity Grant exudes from the sidelines and, as a result, they seemed to get every loose ball and more than their share of good fortune.

“Fresno State did everything they had to do to win,” McQuarn said. “They played harder than we did, they played great defense, outboarded us and got the ball inside. And we approached this game much too casually. I guess our kids thought that because we won by nine up there, they could play with less intensity today.”

There was no questioning Grant’s intensity, however. When senior forward Jos Kuipers was called for a charge with five minutes left in the first half, Grant sent the Neck Vein Bulge-O-Meter to the top of the scale. He ran a couple of steps toward the scorers’ table, jumped in the air, pulled his knees to his chest and landed in a semi-cannonball position.

Then he made a couple of indistinguishable hand gestures in the direction of referee Clarence Hammond, but later denied making any obscene gestures.

Ironically, Fresno State made six fewer field goals, but connected on 23 of 32 free throws, including 6 of 6 in the final 2:25 of play. Fullerton made 7 of 12 at the line.

Again it was Kuipers and center Brian Salone doing most of the offensive damage for Fresno. Each scored 19 points Monday night, and Saturday Salone had 21 and Kuipers finished with 20. Salone is 12 of 16 from the floor and 16 of 22 at the free-throw line against Fullerton this season.

Kuipers made 6 of 9 field-goal attempts and 7 of 8 free throws Saturday. Both had seven rebounds.

In the first game, Kuipers and Salone had virtually no help on the offensive end (the next highest scorer had six), but this time freshman Mike Mitchell, a former Mater Dei star, chipped in 12 points including a three-pointer that might have been the turning point for the Bulldogs.

With just under four minutes remaining and Fullerton trailing by two (47-45), the Titan defense came to life and it appeared the Bulldogs might not get off a shot before the 45-second clock expired. Mitchell, standing about 25 feet from the basket, looked up at the clock and then tossed the shot in.

“I just wanted to prove myself to Fullerton after playing so badly Monday,” Mitchell said. “This is gonna make that ride back to Fresno seem a lot shorter.”

The Titans’ Kevin Henderson took another step down the long road to recovery. Henderson, playing in his second game after breaking his foot Dec. 22, played 22 minutes, made his first two shots from the floor and scored six points. He also sank his only two free throw attempts to stretch his school-record consecutive free-throw string to 35.

Richard Morton, the other member of Fullerton’s walking wounded back court, continued his rehabilitation from ankle and knee injuries, hitting 8 of 19 and scoring a game-high 22 points.

But even a resurrected back court wasn’t enough this time.

“They had the same attitude we had Monday,” Titan senior Kerry Boagni said. “I guess we thought they’d come in here and lay down. But they wanted this game more and they came in with the same attitude Boyd Grant has.”

Grant would like to think his team reflects his personality. If only he could get them to do it more often.

“As bad as we were against Irvine in terms of poise, we certainly turned it around today,” he said. “It was a really good win for us.”