UPCOMING:
Thurs., Dec. 23 -- Denver, Titan Gym (4,000), 7:05 p.m.
Tues., Dec. 28 -- at Cal State Northridge, The Matadome (1,600), 7:05
p.m.
Thurs., Dec. 30 -- at Pacific, Spanos Center (6,150), 7:00 p.m.
THE QUICK SCENARIO: Fullerton is 3-3 going into only
its second home game of the year and seeks to avenge a 79-57 loss at Denver
on Dec. 4. The Titans open Big West Conference play next week.
“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. Todd Reeves and
Troy Bardy are the announcers vs. Denver.
PROBABLE STARTERS:
No. Name Ht. Yr. ppg rpg Quick Notes
F 2 Yaphett King * 6-4 Sr. 11.8 6.7 Has led team in rebounds in each of
past two games -- 8 at EWU, 10 at SDSU
F 24 Hardy Asprilla * 6-5 Sr. 8.0 8.7 Has played excellent defense on
EWU’s and SDSU’s top scorers
F 32 Jamaal Brown 6-7 Jr. 8.0 2.0 Transfer from Western Kentucky made
Titan debut at SDSU
G 3 Bobby Brown * 6-1 So. 20.2 2.3 Scored 57 points in past two games
making 12 of 23 treys
G 14 Jermaine Harper 6-3 Jr. 13.2 4.7 Inconsistent scorer last 3 games
with 0, 24 and 4 point totals OFF THE BENCH:
F 15 Ralphy Holmes* 6-4 Sr. 0.0 8.0 Made long-awaited return at SDSU and
tried too hard, going scoreless
G 23 Vershan Cottrell 6-2 Jr. 2.4 0.6 Transfer from Ohlone College who
led state of Washington in scoring as prep
G 22 John Clemmons 6-0 Jr. 3.0 1.2 January transfer from El Camino College
who didn’t play last year
F 21 Danny Lambert 6-6 Jr. 0.0 3.0 Transfer from Irvine Valley College
has played only 4 minutes
F 5 Justin Burns 6-6 So. 6.4 2.8 Transfer from Cypress Community College;
father “Spider” played at UNLV INJURED:
C 42 Derek Quinet 6-9 So. 5.3 2.8 Suffered broken nose on Dec. 17; surgery
done on Dec. 22
F 12 Drew Awad 6-3 Sr. 1.7 1.0 Leukemia survivor sidelined by foot injury
has now suffered re-occurrence
C 43 Lloyd Walls 6-9 Sr. -- -- Transfer from Wright State sidelined after
multiple concussions
*letters earned
ABOUT DENVER: The Pioneers are 5-3 after completing a 2-game
sweep of Eastern Washington with an 80-61 win in Cheney on Dec. 18. They
routed the Titans, 79-57, on Dec. 4 in Denver. Center Yemi Nicholson (15.1
ppg) and guard Erik Benzel (15.1 ppg) lead a balanced attack. They are
shooting 42 percent as a team from behind the 3-point line led by Benzel
at .474 (27 of 57) and Brett Seger at .692 (9 of 13).
SERIES HISTORY: Fullerton and Denver have only played
the one game (Dec. 4).
ROSTER IN FLUX: Fullerton welcomed the arrival of Jamaal
Brown and Ralphy Holmes on Dec. 21 at San Diego State but the Titans have
lost Derek Quinet for at least the Denver game due to a broken nose suffered
in practice on Dec. 18. He played 21 minutes on Tuesday at San Diego State.
B. BROWN LEADING THE WAY: Bobby Brown is the early scoring
leader in the Big West Conference, buoyed by 30-point and 27-point efforts
in his last two outings, the first total being a career high. The previous
game he had 17 at Denver but had to take 23 shots to get there. His seven
3-point field goals at San Diego State (in 11 attempts) tied his career
best (also had 7 vs. UCSB last season). He’s averaging 20.2 points
per game. The last Titan to break the 20-point barrier for a season was
guard Joe Small in 1990-91 at 21.8 ppg.
TOO AMPED: As Coach Bob Burton expected, both Ralphy
Holmes and Jamaal Brown were not veery effective in their Titan debuts
this season after year-plus layoffs and it didn’t help that each
picked up 2 fouls in the early going in San Diego. Holmes went 0-for-9
from the floor and was rushing his shots. He did grab 8 rebounds in only
16 minutes. Brown scored 8 points but had only 2 rebounds and made only
3 of 13 shots. HOME, SWEET HOME: Fullerton is 1-0 this season and was
8-6 last year in Titan Gym for its first winning season at home since
1998-99. The Nov. 27 win over Hope came in the first of only three non-conference
home games -- Dec. 23 vs. Denver and Jan. 8 vs. UC Davis. Debuting vs.
Denver will be a new state-of-the art sound system, installed by the same
company that did the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim and will be doing USC’s
new arena. That about completes the upgrades possible for 40-year old
Titan Gym. In the past five years, it has welcomed new chair-back seats,
new portable basket supports, new south balony bleachers, new lights and
a new scoreboard as well as updates of 12 national championship banners
and a jersey Wall of Honor.
MINI-CONFERENCE: Cal State Fullerton, Denver and Eastern Washington
are playing what amounts to a 5-game “mini-conference” schedule
in December with Denver playing a same-season home-and-home series with
both the Titans and the Eagles. Currently, Denver is 3-0, CSF is 1-1 and
EWU is 0-3 in those games.
BOMBS AWAY: Fullerton is averaging 22.2 3-point field
goal attempts per game and is making an average of 7.8. That projects
to 598 attempts and 211 makes over a 27-game regular season and both of
those numbers would be school single-season records (196 makes last season
and 551 attempts in 1996-97). Bobby Brown is 23 for 52. After six games
last year he was only 17 for 39.
DOUBLE FIGURES: Prior to the performance against Hope,
the last time the Titans had six players in double figures was Feb. 4,
1999, in an 88-78 home win over Utah State (Cunningham 23, Caldwell 12,
Jarrett 12, Murphy 12, Fischer 11, Harmon 10).
PERIMETER ORIENTED: The perimeter trio of Bobby Brown
(30), Jermaine Harper (24) and Yaphett King (12) scored all but 4 of the
Titans’ 70 points in the win at Eastern Washington. Justin Burns
was the only interior player to score a field goal and that came on an
out-of-bounds play. Derek Quinet and Vershan Cottrell each added one free
throw.
FLYING HIGH: With two wins this year on trips requiring air travel,
the Titans have almost as many “airplane” victories this season
as in the past seven seasons COMBINED. Fullerton is 5-51 since winning
at BYU and Montana in the first two road games of the 1996-97 season (0-5
in 1996-97 after the first two road games; 1-6 in 1997-98; 0-8 in 1998-99;
0-7 in 1999-2000; 1-6 in 2000-01; 0-6 in 2001-02; 1-6 in 2002-03 and 0-5
in 2003-04; 2-2 so far in 2004-05).
NEW OVERTIME STRING STARTING?: Fullerton snapped a 5-game losing
streak in games that ran more than 40 minutes with its win in Cheney,
Washington. The Titans WON five OT games in a row in the 2002-03 season
before losing in that fashion in the season finale and the swan song for
Coach Donny Daniels. Bob Burton was 0-4 last season including one double
overtime defeat.
AWAD LEAVES SCHOOL: Senior forward Drew Awad withdrew from the
University on Dec. 6 when he learned of a reoccurrence of his acute lymphocytic
leukemia. He was informed at the end of practice that day of the results
of a morning blood test. He had been sidelined with a nagging foot injury
and felt tired as he had when originally diagnosed in August of 2002.
He immediately went home to Fresno where he faces another six months of
treatment and hospitalization.
TITAN GYM GOES HOLLYWOOD: ABC's Top Ten Nielsen TV show Extreme
Makeover: Home Edition came to Titan Gym on Dec. 8 to tape a tribute to
Rodney Anderson, the former Titan basketball player, whose family received
the full treatment from the show between Dec. 4 and 14. The taping featured
the retirement of his jersey No. 4 and will be included in an episode
scheduled to be aired either Jan. 30 or Feb. 13. Anderson was shot in
a mistaken identity gang shooting near his Los Angeles home on Mar. 2,
2000, and is paralyzed and in a wheelchair. He is scheduled to graduate
in June with a degree in human services.
TOUCH CONFERNENCE OPENERS: After playing five of its
first six games away from home, the Titans go right back on the road after
the Denver game and must open the Big West season in the lairs of the
two teams that played in last year’s tournament championship game
-- Cal State Northridge and Pacific. The Titans can point to some recent
success in the Matadome and Spanos Center, having split their last two
visits to each building. But those single wins are the only CSF victories
at Northridge in the past three trips and at Pacific in the past 15 trips.
