Guards’ 57 Points Power CS Fullerton

Guards Joe Small, Aaron Sunderland and Bruce Bowen each scored 19 points, leading Cal State Fullerton past the University of San Francisco, 93-84, before 1,625 in Titan Gym on Monday night.

The Titans almost let an 11-point lead slip away in the second half as the Dons trimmed a 67-56 deficit to 77-72 with 5:25 to go.

But Sunderland, the junior point guard, made a jumper, Small drove the lane and sank a left-handed layup and Sunderland drove for a basket to make the score 83-72 with 4:08 to play. Fullerton then made seven of nine free throws in the final 2:33 and maintained at least a six-point lead the rest of the way.

The Titans won despite some sloppy play--they committed 21 turnovers and 26 fouls and let the smaller Dons dominate the offensive boards in the second half.

But San Francisco was even worse, committing 22 turnovers, and 27 fouls and shooting 40% from the field. The Dons also made only six of 12 free throws in the second half.

“Oh, man, we’ve got a long way to go,” Sunderland said. “We’ve got to practice hard, get better and play tougher. We broke down a little in the end.”

Forward Darryl Johnson led the Dons with 20 points and 12 rebounds, often outmuscling the Titans inside, and point guard Orlando Smart added 16 points and five assists. Sunderland had 12 assists.

Agee Ward scored 13 points before fouling out with 8 minutes 11 seconds remaining for Fullerton (1-0). Tim Owens had 14 points and Kevin Weeks added 13 for San Francisco (0-1).

Don guard Travis Bice, a transfer from Nevada Las Vegas, didn’t score in the first half but made three three-point shots and scored 11 points in the second half.