Fullerton Builds Big Lead, Then Coasts

Almost everything went right for Cal State State Fullerton on Monday night in its game against Columbia.

At least, it did for about 35 of the 40 minutes.

Fullerton led by 25 points with less than five minutes to play, but Titan Coach Bob Hawking went deep into his 13-player roster after that, and the final margin was reduced to 91-81 by Columbia’s full-court press.

But even though things slipped late in the game, the Titans still were able to notch their seventh nonconference victory in nine games and their fourth in a row.

“This is really great after what we went through last year,” Titan forward John Williams said, thinking back on last year’s ill-fated 6-20 season.

No Fullerton team had won four consecutive games since the 1990-91 team won eight after two season-opening defeats. That also was the last Fullerton team to win seven of its first nine games.

Columbia (2-6) was no match for Fullerton’s speed and quickness, and certainly not the Titans’ 60.4% shooting from the field. The 1,230 in Titan Gym saw Fullerton’s best shooting performance since 1991 when the Titans shot 60.6% against UC Santa Barbara.

The Lions tried to counter Fullerton’s strength inside by putting up 35 three-point shots, the most attempted against the Titans, but made only 10. Columbia took a total of 69 shots and made 27 (39.1%). Fullerton had a 41-32 rebounding advantage.

“We played well for 35 minutes,” Hawking said. “It was unfortunate that our guys in there at the end struggled against the press.”

Williams led the Titans with 22 points in 24 minutes. Guard Chris Dade had 16 after two games out of double scoring figures. Guard Dane Plock came off the bench to get 12.