SOUTHLAND ROUNDUP

Cal State Fullerton 92, Long Beach State 70--The Titans came up with their best effort of the season in their final home game.

The Titans shot 51.6% from the floor, held 7-foot-1 Andrew Betts to eight points and overwhelmed the 49ers for its most decisive Big West basketball victory of the season.

The Titans scrambled into a tie for second place in the conference’s Western Division with two games to play. Fullerton (10-14) is tied with Long Beach State (10-16) and UC Irvine, each with 5-9 conference records in a division in which Pacific has already run way with first place.

The Titans, however, won twice this season over both Long Beach and Irvine for the first time since the 1985-86 season, and emerged with the tiebreaker advantage over the two teams in their bid to make the postseason tournament.

“We told our players before the game that our destiny is in our own hands, and we took care of business,” Titan Coach Bob Hawking said.

The Titans outscored the 49ers by 23 points in the first half and coasted behind the the scoring of sophomore Ike Harmon and strong floor play from point guard Chris St. Clair.

Harmon tied his career high with 27 points, and St. Clair had a career-high 12 assists, several of them on perfect lob passes that Harmon stuffed on the fly. Senior Craig Whitehead had 14 points, and St. Clair and backup guard Kenroy Jarrett each had 10.

Guard D’Cean Bryant led all scorers with 31 points.