Titan Funk Continues in Loss to Northern Iowa

FULLERTON —  They have taken different approaches, tried different starting lineups, held meetings with coaches and held a meeting without the coaches. But as their nonconference schedule comes to a close, the script remains the same for the Cal State Fullerton Titans.

They lose.

The latest team to beat the Titans was Northern Iowa, which rolled up a 71-57 decision Tuesday night in front of 812 at Titan Gym. The Panthers choked off the Fullerton offense when they went to a zone midway through the second half.

As a result, the Titans (1-6) couldn’t get the ball inside to Winston Peterson. They tried hard, though--that’s what led to many of their 22 turnovers.

“Like, the last eight or nine minutes, when they put a zone on us, that’s what threw us out,” said Peterson, who led Fullerton with 16 points and 11 rebounds. “We really don’t know how to work a zone. Coach thinks we do, but we still aren’t sure about it.”

Fullerton is off to the school’s worst start since the 1980-81 team, which also lost six of its first seven. The worst start in school history is 0-9, which occurred in 1964-65 en route to a 1-25 season.

The Titans, who lost their fifth in a row, shot less than 40% from the field (38.5%) for the third consecutive game, and the 57 points were a season low.

Exactly how they find themselves in this position is open to debate.

“This team is missing a lot of fired-up action,” Peterson said. “It’s like Darren (Little) said a while back. When we play, it’s like going to a funeral. We’re all sad and quiet.

“We need to let go of the nervousness. If we don’t, we’ll end up 0-20.”

Said guard Greg Vernon, the lone returning letterman who is playing: “It’s like a domino effect. When one person is playing bad, then (it affects) everybody. We’re just in a funk. We need to get out.

“I don’t know what to say. I don’t know what to do.”

The Titans led in the second half, 41-35, but then turned the ball over three times and fouled once and Northern Iowa seized the lead, 44-41.

The turnover flurry was part of a 4:49 span in which Fullerton went scoreless. The Titans recovered in time to take a 47-46 lead, but that was the last time they were ahead. Northern Iowa (4-3) outscored Fullerton, 36-16, during the game’s final 14 minutes--thanks mostly to Randy Blocker (24 points) and Cam Johnson (21).

“Our point guards combined for nine turnovers,” Titan Coach Brad Holland said. “That’s a real area we need to improve.”

The numbers were damning throughout the box score. Fullerton made only 38.5% of its shots in each half, connected on only 54% of its free throw attempts and managed only seven assists to go with 22 turnovers.

And, it didn’t help that David Frigout fouled out with 12:17 to play and Danny Robinson followed him at the 5:45 mark, leaving the Titans with only seven available players down the stretch.

“I’m still trying to figure out where to go next,” Holland said. “I basically told them (after the game) that one of the good things about this game is that you don’t have to wait long to go back out and redeem yourself. We play again on Thursday.

“There are two theories: You can either battle and try to get better or you can quit and just get worse. I think the guys on our team are all for staying after it.”

The thing is, one of the more dangerous games on the Titan schedule lies just ahead. In their final pre-Big West Conference tuneup, the Titans host Oklahoma Baptist on Thursday.

Oklahoma Baptist? The Bison (12-1) are currently No. 1 in the nation in the latest NAIA poll.

“They’re no joke,” Peterson said. “They have a lot of Division I rejects, probably because of bad attitudes or bad tempers, but they must be real good. I know they’re good.”

As for the Titans, they hope to change the current before their season is swept away without them.

“In JC, we were all, like, 23-5,” said Peterson, one of three community college transfers getting significant playing time for Fullerton. “And now we come into this and it is bringing us down.

“But the whole team and the coaching staff just can’t get disappointed. We’ve got to stick together and bring everybody up. We need to be positive.”