Titans Take Early Lead, Coast at San Jose

SAN JOSE —  Cal State Fullerton built an 18-point halftime lead and had little trouble defeating San Jose State, 76-64, Thursday night in a Big West Conference game before 1,231 in The Event Center.

Titan forward Agee Ward, dominating inside play with a series of effective post moves, scored 23 points and pulled down nine rebounds, and guard Joe Small showed signs that his seven-game shooting slump might be over, making four of seven shots--including all three three-pointers--and scoring 17 points.

Fullerton has won two consecutive games and three of its last four to improve to 7-9, 3-4 in the conference. The Spartans have lost 10 in a row and fell to 1-15, 0-8.

After a lapse to start the second half, Fullerton scored 11 points in a row to lead, 50-27, with 12:37 remaining.

Titan Coach John Sneed played his reserves for much of the final 10 minutes, and the closest the Spartans came was within 10 points with 41 seconds left.

“We needed a win like this,” Sneed said. “Everyone got to play and everyone was happy.”

The combination of a tight defense by Fullerton and some sloppy ball-handling by San Jose State allowed the Titans to take command early.

San Jose State turned the ball over 16 times in the first half--Fullerton was credited with 14 steals--and managed only 13 shots, making six. The Spartans had only two field goals in the first 11:23, and one of those came on Titan center Kim Kemp’s goaltending call.