Poor Shooting Nets Fullerton First Loss

Cal State Fullerton’s basketball team came down with a bad case of sub-par shooting Friday night against Santa Clara in the opening game of the Fresno State tournament, and the Titans never recovered.

Fullerton shot only 27% in the first half, and managed only three baskets in 20 attempts from its guards. After that, Santa Clara (2-0) was never in serious trouble and went on to an easy 79-65 victory.

The Titans fell to 1-1 after winning their season-opener against Cal State Northridge. Fullerton will meet Texas Arlington in the tournament’s consolation game tonight at 6.

“Santa Clara was a lot better than Northridge,” Fullerton Coach Bob Hawking said. “It was a completely different level. They (the Broncos) dominated the game. They outrebounded us, their field-goal percentage was quite a bit higher, and they turned the ball over less than us.”

That, combined with Fullerton’s 34% shooting for the game, made the outcome obvious. The closest the Titans could come was within 10 points late in the second half, but then the Broncos went back into high gear.

“Our guys looked like they were about a quart low,” Hawking said. “And for this team to be competitive, they have to be at a high energy level, and we just didn’t have that tonight. The kids competed at a higher level in the second half, but by then we’d dug too deep of a hole.”

One of the few bright spots for the Titans was the play of senior center Winston Peterson, who scored a career-high 26 points and had a game-high 12 rebounds.

Senior guard Steve Nash led Santa Clara with 21 points. Guard Marlon Garnett had 19.