Senior forward Yaphett King scored a career-high 26 points to lead all
five Cal State Fullerton starters in double figures Thursday night as
the Titans raced to a 92-69 Big West Conference victory over Cal Poly.
Ralphy Holmes added 19 points and Jermaine Harper had 13 for the Titans,
who snapped a 3-game losing streak to improve to 9-7 overall and 4-4 in
the Big West. Joe Henry scored 18 points and was one of four Mustangs
with a team-high 5 rebounds, but Cal Poly lost its eighth consecutive
game to fall to 3-14 and 1-8.
Fullerton broke the game open at the midway point of the first half with
a 20-4 run that turned a 19-16 Cal Poly lead into a 36-23 Fullerton advantage
with 5:55 remaining. King hit 7 of 8 shots in the first half (10 of 14
for the game) and the Titans shot 64.5 percent as a team in building a
52-33 halftime bulge.
Cal Poly fell behind by as many as 36 points at 86-50 with 8:15 to play
before the Titans went primarily with reserves the rest of the game.
Cal Poly stayed as close as it did by hitting 20 of 24 free throws with
Henry making 10 of 11. But the Titans shot 57 percent from the floor and
forced 22 turnovers to offset a 33-30 shortfall on the backboards.
Fullerton hosts UC Santa Barbara Saturday at 5:05 p.m. while Cal Poly
plays at UC Riverside..
