Yaphett King dominated the first half and Ralphy Holmes took over the
second half Thursday night as Cal State Fullerton used a barrage of outside
shots to defeat the host UC Riverside Highlanders, 76-55, in a Big West
Conference match-up in front of 585 fans at the Student Recreation Center
in Riverside.
With the win the Titans improved to 11-7 overall and 6-4 in the Big West.
UCR is now 7-12 overall and 3-7 in the Big West.
King led four Titans in double figures with a double-double of 24 points
and 12 rebounds and Holmes had a double-double of 17 points and 11 rebounds.
Bobby Brown added 14 points and Jamal Brown had 11 for the Titans, who
were 31-of-64 (.484) from the field and 11-of-27 (407) from the three-point
line.
King had 17 points in the first half and Holmes had 11 in the second half
including a couple of circus shots inside.
Junior guard Rickey Porter had a team-high 15 points for UCR and freshman
guard Larry Cunningham had 10. The Highlanders shot 22-of-53 (.415) from
the field and 6-of-19 (.316) from the three-point line, but just 1-of-11
(.091) in the second half. The Titans outrebounded UCR, 42-28.
Fullerton blocked a season-high seven shots. There were only 14 free throws
attempts in the game with a total of 26 fouls, 17 on Fullerton.
The Titans jumped out to an early 14-2 lead as they drained their first
four three- point attempts, and they built the margin to 13 at 27-14 with
9:45 remaining. UCR went on a 13-4 run on a pair of threes by Steve Williams,
one by Brett Ost and jumpers by Porter and Joel Henning to cut the lead
to 31-27, but the Titans quickly built the margin back to 11 with a 7-0
run and entered the half with a 43-34 advantage.
The Titans were 9-of-14 (.643) from the three-point line in the first
half and 16-of-31 (.516) overall, while UCR was equally warm at 13-of-26
(.500) overall and 5-of-8 (.625) from the three-point line.
The second half was all Titans, as they outscored UCR 21-6 in the first
10 minutes to turn a nine-point lead into a 24-point edge at 64-40. A
14-0 run capped the surge. The Titans' biggest lead of the half was 28
at 72-44 with 7:02 left, but the Highlanders held the Titans scoreless
over the final four minutes to shave the lead to 21.
Fullerton is off on Saturday night but plays three more road games next
week -- a non-conference contest at UC Davis on Monday before Big West
games at UC Irvine on Thursday and at Long Beach State on Saturday.
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