Titans’ Road Woes Continue

STOCKTON —  Point guard Kenroy Jarrett made an unexpected return to Cal State Fullerton’s lineup Thursday night against Pacific, but his presence wasn’t enough to change the Titans’ fortunes on the road.

Pacific, normally one of the Big West Conference’s best three-point shooting teams, used a strong inside game for a 75-59 victory over the Titans in front of 3,863 in Spanos Center.

The victory clinched a spot in the postseason playoffs for Pacific (13-10, 8-5). It was the 10th defeat for Fullerton in 12 games on the road and their 10th consecutive loss in the Spanos Center.

Despite the loss, the Titans (12-11, 6-7) remained in fourth place in the Western Division, a game ahead of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Four teams from the West advance to the tournament.

Jarrett, who had been regarded as out for the season because of a broken bone in his right hand, received clearance to play after having his injury reevaluated by a second physician on Wednesday. He played 31 minutes and scored nine points.

“We got only eight rebounds from our four big guys, and only four offensive rebounds in the game,” Titan Coach Bob Hawking said. “That was the story of this game. Their big guys played better than our big guys.”

Pacific, which had a 32-20 rebounding advantage, received a strong scoring effort from forwards Mike Preston and Jason Williams. Preston had 17, Williams 15. Center Tim Johnson had 11. Preston and Johnson are freshmen. The Tigers made only one of 12 three-point shots.

Guard Mark Murphy led the Titans with 15 points, but Titan scoring leader Ike Harmon was held to eight points and three rebounds. It was only the second time Harmon has been kept out of double figures in scoring this season. He was held to six points at UC Santa Barbara.

“What a great job we did on Harmon,” Pacific Coach Bob Thomason said. “We got him into some foul trouble, and he played tentatively after that. He won the game for them the last time we played at Fullerton, but this time we nullified him. Outside of Murphy being able to run around and make some three-pointers, we did a good job on them defensively.”

Harmon had 22 points and six rebounds when Fullerton won by four points in Titan Gym in late January.

Harmon picked up his third foul in the first minute of the second half and his fourth less than four minutes later. He played 20 minutes, only eight in the first half, before fouling out with 1 minute 43 seconds left.

“Everyone seems to play with more emotion at home, and that seems to be what happened with us,” said Pacific guard Clay McKnight, the former UC Irvine and Mater Dei player who scored five points. “Fullerton seemed to hit a wall in the second half. That’s when our post guys really stepped up.”

Jarrett was happy to be back, but disappointed that his team didn’t win. “I had no pain in my hand and no swelling, so I didn’t see any reason why I couldn’t play,” said Jarrett, whose hand has taped to protect the injury.