UPCOMING:
Thur., Mar. 4 -- at Pacific, Spanos Center in Stockton (6,150), 7:00 p.m.
Sat., Mar. 6 -- at Cal State Northridge, The Matadome (1,600), 7:05 p.m.
THE QUICK SCENARIO: The Titans (10-15, 6-10) close out the regular
season on the road needing one more victory to top last year’s victory
total (10-19) and to nail down a berth in the Big West Conference post-season
tournament. One Fullerton win or one Cal Poly loss would put Fullerton
into the 8-team field. If neither of those things happen, then it’s
on to a complicated tie-breaker system where the Titans’ win over
Idaho could be helpful and their double overtime loss last week to UC
Santa Barbara could cause more pain.
TOURNEY SCENARIO: With one week to go, Utah
State and Pacific have clinched the top two seeds and byes into the semifinals
while UCSB, Idaho and Cal State Northridge are “in” but jockeying
for position. Seeds No. 3 and No. 4 earn byes into the quarterfinals.
Five teams are stil alive for the remaining three berths but Long Beach
State and Cal Poly must win twice to have a chance.
“RADIO”: All games can be heard live on the internet
on computers with sound cards. Listeners may access the CSF Athletics
home page at www.titansports.org and follow the links. Mel Franks will
be at the microphone in Stockton. The game at Cal State Northridge also
wil be aired live on KWRM (1370 AM) with Todd Reeves at the microphone.
PROBABLE STARTERS:
No. Name Ht. Yr. ppg rpg Quick Note
G 25 Zakee Smith* 6-0 Sr. 2.3 1.2 With 8 assists vs. Cal Poly, now has
201 in his 2-year Titan career
G 3 Anthony Bolton* 6-7 Sr. 12.8 5.1 Had career-high 26 points vs. Cal
Poly; played 50 minutes vs. UCSB
C 11 Pape Sow** 6-10 Jr. 16.6 9.9 Averaged 23.5 ppg and 13.5 rpg last
week; made 21 of 24 free throws
F 21 Yaphett King 6-4 Jr. 8.2 5.0 Loves The Beach - averaged 21.5 ppg
in two games vs. the 49ers
F 40 Bron Groomes* 6-7 Sr. 6.4 3.2 Had two highest scoring games vs. Cal
Poly -- 14 there and 13 at home
OFF THE BENCH:
G 2 Bobby Brown 6-1 Fr. 13.3 2.0 Highest scoring freshman in CSF history;
ranks 8th in season treys with 64
F 24 Hardy Asprilla 6-5 Jr. 4.5 5.0 Grabbed season-high 11 rebounds to
go with 10 points vs. UCSB
C 12 Babacar Camara** 6-11 Sr. 1.3 1.7 Averaging about 7 minutes in relief
of cousin Sow
F 1 Brian Pruitt 6-5 Jr. 4.0 2.2 Has played only 46 minutes over the team’s
last 15 games
*previous letters earned
ABOUT THE TIGERS: Pacific (20-7, 15-1) has won 11 in a row and
16 out of 17 including a 66-64 overtime win at Fullerton on Jan. 5. The
Tigers have balanced scoring led by Miah Davis (14.3 ppg) and Christian
Maraker (13.3 ppg) and hold opponents to 41 percent shooting from the
floor.
ABOUT THE MATADORS: Cal State Northridge (11-12, 7-8) is 7-4 at
home and has held its own since three players were dismissed from the
team in mid-January. Forward Eto Onyenegecha is the leading scorer at
14.4 ppg followed by Ian Boylan at 13.4 and Davin White at 13.1 ppg.
SERIES HISTORIES: Pacific leads the series, 36-29, after winning
nine of the last 10. Fullerton snapped a 13-game losing streak in Spanos
Center on Feb. 27, 2003, with a 55-52 victory. Northridge and Fullerton
are tied at 22-22 after the Matadors’ 61-55 win in Titan Gym on Jan.
3. The Matadors are 4-1 vs. the Titans in Big West Conference play.
THE COACHES:
Bob Thomason is 254-208 in his 16th season at Pacific and 306-235 career.
He is 22-10 vs. Fullerton and 1-0 vs. Bob Burton.
Bobby Braswell is 122-107 in his 8th year at CSUN and career. He is 4-1
vs. Fullerton and 1-0 vs. Burton.
Bob Burton is 10-15 in his first season at Fullerton and the Div. I level.
He was 488-158 in 21 seasons at West Valley Community College in Saratoga
in northern California. He also served two one-season stints as a Div.
I assistant at Utah and Fresno State.
HALL OF FAME FOR BURTON: Coach Burton will be inducted into the
California Community College Men’s Basketball Coaches Association
Hall of Fame in March in conjunction with the state tournament to be held
in San Diego. Joining Burton will be Coach John Chambers from Mt. San
Jacinto and Barstow Colleges and Coach Keith Hughes of College of the
Sequoias and Reedley College.
ROSTER IN FLUX: Fullerton’s playing roster is hovering at
nine available players. Since conference play started, the Titans lost
Anthony Bolton for five games due to academic problems and have been without
reserve guard Denver Lopez, who returned to the Philippines because of
his ailing father. In early February, senior guard Derick Andrew was dismissed
from the team and his replacement, David Warsaw, withdrew from the team
due to personal problems.
ON THE ROAD: Fullerton is 2-9 this year, winning only at Pepperdine
and Long Beach State. The Titans were 4-13 last year, which was better
than any of the three previous seasons -- 1-13 in 2001-02; 2-11 in 2000-01
and 2-12 in 1999-2000. The last winning road record was 8-6 by Coach John
Sneed’s 1988-89 team.
AT HOME: Fullerton finished 8-6 this year in Titan Gym, 5-4 in
Big West Conference play, for its winning record at home since going 10-3
in 1998-99. Three of this season’s home losses came in overtime and
the regulation defeats were by 4, 6 and 8 points in games in which the
Titans led in the final three minutes. The all-time (Div. I) Titan Gym
record is 233-140 (.625).
CLOSE CALLS ALMOST EVERYWHERE: Of Fullerton’s 15 losses, 12
have come by 10 points or less. And of those 12, the Titans held a second-half
lead in 8 of them (Sacramento St., USC, LMU, CSUN, UoP, UCR, Utah State
and UCSB). The Titans led in the final 5 minutes against all but Sacramento.
CRUNCHED TIME: If games could go selectively slightly less than
40 minutes, the Titans would be 17-8, to wit:
• at USC - if 39 minutes=WIN... Fullerton leads all of the second
half except the final 56 seconds, when Desmon Farmer hits a trey to tie
a game which goes into overtime, where Fullerton never leads and loses,
96-90.
• vs. LMU - if 38:45=WIN... Bolton free throws at 1:19 put CSF up,
67-66. But Charles Brown hits a trey at 1:14 and LMU wins, 71-67.
• vs. CSU Northridge - if 38:00= WIN... Brown free throws at 2:18
put CSF up, 52-51. But Davin White hits a 3-pointer at 1:55 and Eto Onyenegecha
hits another at 0:57 and CSUN wins, 61-55.
• vs. Pacific - if 38:49=WIN... Fullerton takes 58-56 lead at 1:26
on Sow jumper but Christian Maraker free throws at 1:11 force overtime,
where Brown runner at 1:49 gives CSF a 64-60 lead. But Maraker makes a
two and David Doubley drills a 3-pointer at 1:10 for a 65- 64 UoP lead
and the Tigers win, 66-64.
• at UC Riverside - if 36:30=WIN... Fullerton takes 56-55 lead on
Brown layup but Mark Peters free throw ties it and Rickey Porter puts
UCR ahead for good at 60-58 with 1:46 to play.
• vs. Utah State - if 37:00=WIN... Brown’s 3-pointer at 3:00
puts Fullerton ahead, 49-48, but Chad Evans free throws at 2:34 put USU
ahead to stay as the Aggies score the final 9 points of the game.
• vs. UCSB - if 39:05=WIN... Sow’s FTs at 0:55 put CSF ahead,
72-70, but Fullove tipin at 0:38 ties game and UCSB comes from 5 down
in final minute of first overtime to win in double overtime.
TREND REVERSES: But in winning five of their last six home games,
the Titans made clutch plays down the stretch. Against Idaho they didn’t
let a 10-point lead with 5:45 to go get smaller than 7 points; against
UCR they didn’t let a 6-point lead at 8:08 get smaller than 2 points;
against UCI, they broke a tie with 1:47 remaining and made 4-of-4 free
throws in the final 40 seconds; against Long Beach they grabbed the eighth
and final lead change of the last 4:42, scoring the winning points with
16 seconds remaining; against Cal Poly the Titans went 12-for-12 at the
foul line in the final 1:23 to holf off a Mustangs’ rally.
THREE-POINT HIGHS: Fullerton’s perimeter shooting has generally
been inferior to the opponents’ but the Titans have had their moments
behind the arc this season. Twice the Titans have posted back-to-back
flurries. They were 13 of 20 vs. UC Irvine on Feb. 12 and 12 of 22 vs.
Long Beach State on Feb. 14 for a combined 25 of 42 (.595). They were
a school-record 14 for 24 vs. USC on Dec. 9 and 10 of 16 the next game
vs. Eastern Washington for a combined 24 for 40 (.600). Back-to-back games
better than 50 percent are extremely rare in recent years, occurring only
twice previously in the past 10-plus seasons — the last two games
of 2001-02 and Jan. 10 and 13, 1996. Fullerton had only two games over
50 percent all of last season and none in the 1999-2000 or 2000-01 seasons.
THREE-POINT LOWS: Fullerton has made more 3-point field goals than
its opponent only seven times this season — 14 to 7 at USC, 7 to
6 vs. Utah State, 7 to 6 vs. UCR, 13 to 4 vs. UCI, 12 to 5 vs. Long Beach,
7 to 5 at Idaho and 10 to 8 vs. UCSB. The Titans have come out even three
times — 8 each at Pepperdine, Long Beach State and Cal Poly. Fullerton
has had a better percentage 11 times, going 6-5 in those games.
HIGHEST SCORING TITAN FRESHMAN EVER: Bobby “LB” Brown
will become the highest scoring true freshman in Fullerton’s 30-year
Div. I history unless the Titans go four games into the post-season and
he doesn’t score a point. He’s averaging 13.3 points per game
and the school freshman standard is 10.9 ppg by Tony Neal in 1981-82.
The only others to average in double figures are Kevin Heenan (10.5 ppg
in 1975-76), Greg Bunch (10.33 in 1974-75) and Mike Niles (10.26 in 1976-77).
The balance of the top ten are Ryan Dillon (8.7 in 2000-01), Wayne Williams
(8.3 in 1988-89), Gary Davis (6.8 in 1981-82), Josh King (6.69 in 1993-94),
David Gilbreath (6.67 in 1980-81) and Richard Morton (5.7 in 1984-85).
Bunch, Niles, and Morton all eventually played in the NBA.
MORE ON BROWN: He’s a -- the? -- leading candidate for Big
West Freshman of the Year honors and the “sixth man” award,
having come off the bench 7 times in Big West play and 10 times this season.
Currently, for all games, he’s the No. 10 scorer in the conference,
No. 2 in 3-point field goals made, No. 3 in assists and assists-to-turnover
ratio and No. 7 in 3-point percentage. Bobby’s scoring was at its
best in Games Nos. 3 to 8 when he was a combined 24-for-41 (.585) from
3-point land and averaged 19.3 points. In Big West play he was shooting
23.6 percent (13 of 55) behind the arc before making 25 of 48 (.521) in
the last 7 games.
KING LOSES TOUCH: Yaphett King was among the conference leaders
in 3-point shooting percentages before going 0-for-9 in last week’s
two home games to fall to No. 8 in Big West games only at .417. He was
instrumental in CSF’s come-from-behind win vs. UCR, scoring 7 points
in a 13-0 run to open the second half. And he came up huge vs. Long Beach
State. In two games he averaged 21.5 ppg and 5.0 rpg. He made 16 of 23
shots including 9 of 13 from 3-point range. In fact, in the two games
he was 9-for-9 in the first halves.
SOW MANY NUMBERS: Pape Sow has 12 “double-doubles” this
season and 26 in his career and is AVERAGING one in Big West games at
15.5 ppg and 11.4 rpg. He beat his personal high and the Big West Conference
single-game high this season by one when he grabbed 18 rebounds Saturday
night vs. Cal Poly to go with 26 points. He rang up only the fourth “double-double”
of the season vs. Utah State on Feb. 21 when he had 18 points and 13 rebounds
against the nationally ranked Aggies. He became the 17th member of the
Titans’ 1,000-point club on Feb. 19 at Idaho and currently ranks
No. 13 with 1,067 career points. No. 12 is Bruce Bowen (San Antonio Spurs)
with 1,155. In rebounding, Sow passed Cedric Ceballos on Saturday to move
into the No. 5 Titan spot with 630. No. 4 is Ike Harmon with 662.
SOW CONGESTED & POUNDED: Sow is seeing tighter and tighter
defenses and more and more of the foul line as the Titans’ perimeter
shooting threats have been held in low regard. Even with a 10-for-16 effort
vs. Cal Poly on Saturday night, he has made only 44 of 113 (39 percent)
field goal tries over the last 11 games after shooting 56 percent in the
first 14 games. He had a season-low 4 points against both UCI and Long
Beach. Much of his scoring is coming from the free-throw line (“Bop-a-Pape”
strategy?) where he made 65 of 86 (76 percent) in those same 11 games.
With 198 tries, he easily leads the Big West. He is averaging 7.92 attempts
per game which projects to 213 for the regular season, or 31 more than
his sophomore year when only UCI’s Jerry Green among Big West Conference
players had more free throw attempts. The school record is 257 by Leon
Wood in 1983-84.
SMITH’S ROLE EVER CHANGING: Zakee Smith lost his starting role
to Bobby Brown and did not make the trip to USC (Dec.9) after missing
a practice. He was back in uniform but did not play in the next two games
behind Brown and Denver Lopez. With Lopez away, Smith averaged 9 minutes
the next three games. With Anthony Bolton also idled, Smith averaged more
than 15 minutes the next five games. With Bolton back but Bobby Brown
struggling, he played 35 minutes on the last road trip and regained his
starting position against UCR last Saturday night. In three of the last
four home wins he scored critical points. He made only one field goal
against both Idaho and UCR but each put the Titans ahead to stay—
45-44 at 10:34 vs. Idaho and a trey to make it 47-46 at 11:45 vs. UCR.
Against UCI he scored a season-high 9 points to go with 8 assists and
only 2 turnovers in 35 minutes. He scored the first “hat trick”
at the foul line of his career, making 3-of-3 free throws at the 5:10
mark to halve a 6-point deficit. He made two treys in a game for the first
time vs. UCI and matched the feat against Long Beach State.
BOLTON RETURNS STRONG: Senior Anthony Bolton has returned from
a 5-game absence due to academic problems to post nine consecutive double-figure
scoring efforts topped by a career-high 26 points Saturday night vs. Cal
Poly. He hit the clinching bucket in the UCR win, making the score 67-63
with 21 seconds remaining, and he converted a one-and-one opportunity
for a 66-63 lead over UCI with 40 seconds to play. Against Long Beach
State he scored 16 points in the second half including 3 of 4 3-point
baskets. Against Cal Poly he hit his first five 3-point field goal attempts
of the game and then scored 10 of Fullerton’s final 14 points including
8-of-8 from the foul line. At .4423, he is in a dead heat with Utah State’s
Mark Brown (.4444) and Cardell Butler (.4425) for the Big West’s
best 3-point field goal percentage for all games. He also is challenging
the CSF school record of .4427 by Don Leary (89 of 201) in 1992-93.
EARLY BOLTON: He had his two best games of the season to earn Big
West Conference Player of the Week honors (Dec. 8-14). At USC he made
7 of 9 shots including all four 3-point attempts on his way to 18 points
and a team-high 6 rebounds. Vs. Eastern Washington he scored 22 points
and 16 of them came during a 27-9 run over the first 11 minutes of the
second half. Prior to the game at USC he was shooting only 30 percent
from the floor and 21 percent from 3-point range. Fullerton last had two
Big West player of the week awards in the same season in 1998-99 (Ike
Harmon and Matt Caldwell).
GROOMES RETURNS IMPRESSIVELY: Senior forward Bron Groomes missed
the first 10 games of the season due to a severed tendon in his right
pinkie finger, suffered in an off-campus assault in October. His first
five games back he averaged 5.6 ppg and 2.8 rpg. He has started the last
10, averaging 6.8 ppg and 3.4 rpg. He had his two highest scoring games
against Cal Poly -- 14 on Jan. 29 and 13 on Feb. 28.
HOOPS HONOR ROLL: Junior forward Hardy Asprilla, former player
Rodney Anderson, team manager Nick Arciniaga and student assistant Allyson
Alhadeff represent the men’s basketball program on Cal State Fullerton’s
Fall, 2003, honor roll.
FIVE POTENTIAL STARTERS DISAPPEARED EARLY: After Bob Burton was
hired on June 6, five players who potentially could have started for the
Titans this season were lost to a wide variety of reasons. Leading scorer
Ralphy Holmes was expelled in October for a May violation of school rules;
forward Jamal Forcheney, who started 14 games last year, was an academic
casualty; guard Fedi Holm-Hadulla, who shot 43 per cent from 3-point range
and made 6 starts, had to retire due to a cartilage problem in his knee;
forward Ron Allen, a 6-foot-9 freshman from Artesia High School idled
under the guidelines of Prop. 48, left for the community college ranks;
and then forward Bron Groomes, who started 8 games last year, suffered
a severed tendon in the little finger of his right hand when someone smashed
in a window at his campus residence. He didn’t suit up until Jan.
3 and didn’t play until Jan. 5.
BURTON’S RESERVES: Despite his late June 6 hiring, Coach Bob
Burton was able to replenish his roster, at least in numbers. Yaphett
King and Bobby Brown were brought in on scholarships during the summer
and walk-ons Brian Pruitt, Jason Pettaway and Danny Lambert joined the
program. In addition, the Titans have landed three four-year transfers
in guard Jermaine Harper from Virginia, power forward Lloyd Walls from
Wright State and power forward Jamaal Brown from Western Kentucky, who
was enrolled on Feb. 2 and will be eligible after next Fall semester.
In five games this season, Brown averaged 2.4 points and 2.6 rebounds.
As a freshman, he averaged 5.3 points and 2.9 rebounds, shooting 48 percent
from the floor and 74 percent at the foul line.
INCOMING CLASS: The Titans signed three players to national letters
of intent during the November recruiting period -- Derek Quinet, 6-8,
West Valley JC, San Jose, CA; Junior Taylor, 6-1, Pioneer HS, San Jose,
CA; and Ephram Williams, 6-9, Arroyo HS, San Bernardino, CA. The Titans
also have added walk-on point guard John Cleammons (6-0, Jr., El Camino
JC), who enrolled at the semester. A local community college player also
has signed a scholarship and will enroll in the Fall.
