Titans Run Home-Court Streak to 12

It was pretty much unanimous in preseason. People figured Cal State Fullerton would be in the upper half of the Big West Conference about the same time elephants talked.

Well, a few minutes after Fullerton’s 71-58 victory over Pacific on Saturday night, Tuffy the Titan--the team’s mascot--approached someone outside the Fullerton locker room.

“Aaron Sunderland’s English teacher is out here and wants to talk to him,” came a voice from deep within the elephant’s trunk.

Tuffy the Titan?

Well, why not? Fullerton, tied with Cal State Long Beach for third in the conference, has snagged momentum and is holding on for dear life.

In winning for the sixth time in their past seven games, the Titans (11-5, 6-3) extended their home-court winning streak to 12 games--fourth-longest in the nation, according to the NCAA--and forward Bruce Bowen, who scored a game-high 22 points, became the 14th Fullerton player to collect more than 1,000 for his career.

The Titans dismantled Pacific (9-8, 5-4) piece by piece, starting with 14:44 to play when Sunderland, looking to exploit Tony Amundsen, who was saddled with three fouls, drilled a three-pointer to lift Fullerton into a tie, 34-34.

Sunderland scored baskets on Fullerton’s next two possessions and then turned it over to off-guard Don Leary, who made two consecutive three-pointers to complete a 12-0 run.

“(Assistant) Coach (Ed) Goorjian told me, ‘It’s on you. You’ve got to penetrate,’ ” said Sunderland, a senior guard who finished with 21 points and four assists. “Amundsen had three fouls. Every time I got the ball, I just went to the hole as they told me.”

Fullerton finished with a season-low 10 turnovers--only two in the second half--and shot 52% from the floor.