New Look for Titans in Victory : Basketball: Sporting custom T-shirts, Cal State Fullerton overcomes poor shooting, turnovers to beat San Jose State, 66-61.

FULLERTON —  He sat down. He cracked open a bottle of designer water. He sighed.

“It’s a win,” Cal State Fullerton Coach Brad Holland said. “It’s a win.”

He took a sip and soon it became a self-help therapy session.

“It’s a win,” he repeated. “It’s a win. It’s a win.”

A Big West Conference victory over San Jose State safely tucked away, 66-61, this was a sort of verbal pinch to make sure he wasn’t dreaming.

The Titans, fresh from an overtime victory at UC Santa Barbara on Saturday, took the floor for pre-game warm-ups wearing new “House of Pain” T-shirts over their jerseys. It soon became evident, though, that the most pain inflicted Thursday would be upon the nerve endings in their coach’s face.

It contorted angrily in a variety of directions as Holland scolded the Titans during timeouts. It froze on the spot during one second-half timeout as he glared at his players as they made their way toward the bench.

“I’m not making excuses for this team because I want to praise San Jose State,” Holland said. “But sometimes it’s hard to come back after an emotional game like Santa Barbara.

“We didn’t match that tonight. San Jose State played well enough to beat us.”

Thanks to a stretch run that included an Aaron Sunderland three-pointer, a Sean Williams jump-hook and four free throws in the final minute, Fullerton (10-5, 5-3) improved its Titan Gym winning streak to 11 games in front of 2,015.

“I think everybody took San Jose as a joke, the same team as they were last year,” said Williams, who finished with 12 points.

San Jose State (5-10, 2-5), en route to its 16th consecutive road loss and 14th consecutive conference road loss, didn’t go down easily. The Spartans trailed by only three at the half, 34-31, and pulled to within two six times in the final 5 minutes 21 seconds--the last time at 63-61 with 44 seconds left.

But Don Leary made two free throws with 27 seconds left and Bruce Bowen hit another with nine seconds remaining, allowing the Titans to elude embarrassment by the narrowest of margins.

And wouldn’t it have been something if they had debuted those T-shirts and then . . . lost?

“Aw man, I’d have felt real terrible,” Williams said. “ Real terrible.”

Said forward Kim Kemp: “Oh yeah, that would have been real embarrassing.”

Unable to stomach that thought for very long, one would-be entrepreneur quickly changed the subject.

“We got the win, though, that’s what counts,” said Kemp, who had 11 points. “We ain’t going to smash everybody at home. We ain’t invincible. We’re not going to beat everybody by 20 points.”

But they figured to have a little easier time of it against the Spartans, who aren’t exactly Nevada Las Vegas.

“I don’t believe we did anything well, and San Jose State deserves a lot of credit for that,” Holland said. “There were a lot of loose balls that didn’t bounce our way, we had a lot of unforced errors, we missed some inside shots, our post defense left a lot to be desired. . . . They were just more aggressive and physical than us.”

If he had a larger water supply, Holland might have found fault all night.

Fullerton shot 57.7% in the first half but only 32% in the second. The Titans were out-rebounded, 36-28, and had 17 turnovers and only 12 assists.

Sunderland finished with 15 points and Bowen 13 to lead Fullerton. San Jose State center Daryl Scott had a game-high 18 points.

The keys, though, were these: Leary, who is playing with a stress fracture in his right foot, scored 11 second-half points; Bowen made seven of nine second-half free throws; and Sunderland’s clutch three-pointer with 2:55 to play to give Fullerton some breathing room, 60-54.

“I wasn’t sure who they would go to (in the second-half) because of their balance,” San Jose State Coach Stan Morrison said. “Sunderland hit the three, Bowen’s free throws, and Williams’ jump-hook, those were key things.”

Holland substituted liberally during the first half while Fullerton struggled to stay ahead of the Spartans, who now have lost eight consecutive games in Titan Gym. He spent most of the first time-out scolding the Titans, attempting to shore up a shoddy defense. The score was 10-10, and all five Spartan field goals had come from the lane.

“Coach was real mad at halftime,” Williams said. “He told us, ‘You have got to pick it up, fellas, or you’re going to lose at home.’

“And we’re trying to make something brand new.”

A winning, home-court tradition or a batch of new T-shirts, he didn’t say.