Fullerton Wears Out Irvine Inside

Sean Williams scored 20 points, grabbed nine rebounds and blocked four shots Saturday night to lead Cal State Fullerton to an 86-68 Big West Conference victory over UC Irvine before 2,315 in Titan Gym.

Bruce Bowen added 20 points and five steals, and Agee Ward, despite suffering with flu, had 19 points for Fullerton, 10-11 overall and 6-6 in the Big West.

Fullerton had a decided height advantage on the front line with the 6-foot-10 Williams, and the junior capitalized by making seven of 12 shots. Three of his baskets came on follow shots and two on dunks.

Williams had a key three-point play in the second half, after Irvine trimmed a 21-point lead to 73-63 with 3:22 left. From under the Titan basket, Williams caught an inbounds pass in the key, scored, was fouled and hit the free throw to put the Titans back up by 13. The Anteaters (5-17, 2-11) didn’t threaten the rest of the way.

Fullerton took control of the game with a 10-point outburst late in the first half, extending a 34-29 lead to 44-29 with 2:11 left before halftime.

Gerald McDonald hit a three-pointer at the 6:25 mark for UC Irvine, but the Anteaters didn’t score again until Jeff Von Lutzow’s free throw with 1:45 left, a span 4:40.

Joe Small scored 12 of his 13 points in the first half for the Titans.