Early Slam Suspends Game : College basketball: Dunk by Cal State Long Beach’s Kevin Cutler shatters backboard in Titan Gym.

FULLERTON —  Cal State Long Beach forward Kevin Cutler finished off a fast break and a basketball game against Cal State Fullerton at the same time Thursday night when his dunk shattered a backboard in Titan Gym.

Cutler, filling the right lane on a break 3 minutes 50 seconds into the game, took a pass from Bryon Russell, slammed with his right hand and tore down the rim. Several chunks of glass fell, causing minor cuts to two Fullerton cheerleaders, but there were no major injuries.

Most of the backboard remained intact except for a small circular hole, about one foot in diameter, where the break-away rim was before it broke away. There was also a small gash in the floor. Because of the amount of time required to replace the backboard--about six to eight hours, according to Titan equipment manager Cliff Hatter--the game was postponed until Tuesday.

The game will be resumed at 7:30 p.m. with the 49ers leading, 10-8, with 16:10 remaining in the first half.

“Never, never, never have I seen anything like that before,” said Fullerton trainer Jerry Lloyd, in his 22nd year at the school. “But stick around Titan Tech long enough and you’ll see it all. It’s just a matter of time.”

The timing of the oddity was actually good for Fullerton and terrible for Long Beach. The Titans’ starting center, Aaron Wilhite, did not dress for the game because of a knee injury, point guard Wayne Williams didn’t start because of an ankle injury, and reserve center Ron Caldwell, who is suffering from a rib-cage injury, wasn’t even at the game.

Wilhite might be ready to return by next week and Williams will have some extra time to heal. The status of Caldwell, who missed a practice session Thursday and did not notify Coach John Sneed, is unclear.

Sneed said if Caldwell didn’t have a legitimate excuse for missing practice, he will likely be suspended from the team for an indefinite amount of time. Sneed hadn’t spoken to Caldwell as of Thursday night.

“It definitely helps us,” Titan assistant Coach Dan Dion said. “It gives us a few extra days of rest.”

Long Beach Coach Seth Greenberg, whose team entered with a .401 field-goal percentage but made four of its first five shots from the floor Thursday night, was disappointed but kept things in perspective.

“That was the first break we’ve converted all season,” Greenberg said. “It’s kind of a shame. We were shooting the ball well but can’t catch a break.”

However, Greenberg added, “On the other hand, maybe it was an omen that we shouldn’t be playing tonight,” alluding to the Persian Gulf War.

After celebrating with his teammates, hugging them as if the 49ers had just won a game, Cutler went back to grab a chunk of glass from the floor.

“I wanted to take the rim but they stopped me,” said Cutler, a Ganesha High School graduate who originally signed with Fullerton in 1986. “I’ll probably save the glass and give it to my mother. I’ve seen Darryl Dawkins and Jerome Lane do this on T.V., and we try to do it every day in practice. This is like a dream come true.”

Cutler failed to meet Proposition 48 requirements out of high school, so instead of enrolling at Fullerton, went to Arizona Western College for two years before transferring to Long Beach.

Cutler was fouled by Titan guard Joe Small on the dunk and didn’t think he slammed with enough force to tear the rim down.

“I thought it was a regular dunk,” Cutler said. “Then I saw the glass shatter and the rim falling down and thought, ‘Oh, man.’ It kind of bugged me out. I got kind of hyper.”

Small managed to avoid the falling glass but was still in awe of the play afterward.

“That was unreal, man,” he said.

Titan Notes

Fullerton center Aaron Wilhite injured a knee during the second half of Monday night’s game against San Jose State but was able to finish, scoring 27 points. He will undergo a Magnetic Resonance Image test Monday to determine the severity of the injury, but Fullerton trainer Jerry Lloyd said it might be a minor cartilage tear. Lloyd said there’s a chance Wilhite could play against New Mexico State Saturday night if he’s feeling better. . . . In addition to a recurring ankle injury, Titan point guard Wayne Williams was also suffering from the flu Thursday night. He had played all but 47 of the possible 610 minutes this season. . . . Reserve center Ron Caldwell was given a cortisone shot Thursday to help relieve pain from a muscle strain in his rib cage. . . . Former Fullerton star Cedric Ceballos, now a Phoenix Suns reserve forward, was on the Fullerton bench for Thursday night’s game.