Harmon Goes Down Again, but the Titans Make a Stand

Not even another injury to Ike Harmon could stop Cal State Fullerton against Pepperdine Saturday night in Titan Gym.

The Titans showed they could stand on their own feet without him.

Harmon re-injured the ankle he sprained two weeks ago and sat out nearly all the second half, but Fullerton went on to hand Pepperdine its first loss of the season in six games, 78-68.

Sophomore center Matt Caldwell led the way with 15 points in the second half on a night when he scored a career-high 22, and the Waves struggled with Fullerton’s inside game. Harmon scored 14 points in the first half before he fell to the floor in pain with slightly more than a minute left in the first half.

“Anytime you take out your leading scorer and one of your best players and still get the win, it takes a good effort, and we got that,” Titan Coach Bob Hawking said.

Guards Kenroy Jarrett and Mark Murphy each scored 11, and the Titans (2-1) shot 51.9% from the field. Murphy was three of four on three-pointers.

“I was almost crying when Ike hurt his ankle again,” Jarrett said. “But I think all of us decided then that we were going to win this game without him.”

The Titans turned in a solid effort on defense, mixing zone with man-to-man, and Pepperdine shot only 38.1% from the field. The Waves were seven of 21 from three-point range. Marc McDowell’s 12 points led Pepperdine, though five other Wave players scored 10. Guard Jelani Gardner was held to 10 and was only four of 15 from the field.

Hawking gave Jarrett, a 5-foot-11 junior point guard, credit for his defense on Gardner.

“Jelani had to work for everything he got,” Hawking said. “And Kenroy did a lot of it. And what does Kenroy give up in height to him? Six or seven inches?”

Jarrett said Gardner just had an off night. “He’s a good athlete, and the shots were there, he just didn’t make them this time,” Jarrett said.

The Titans had a 38-34 rebounding advantage with Caldwell getting 10 and Jason Cunningham eight. “We felt we had to do that to stay with them,” Hawking said.

Pepperdine Coach Lorenzo Romar gave Fullerton credit for a strong performance, but was disappointed with his team’s play on defense. It was the most points Pepperdine has given up this season and the first time a team has shot better than 45% against the Waves.

“We’ve been surviving off our defense, but tonight we didn’t take care of that end of it,” Romar said. “But Fullerton did a fine job on their half-court execution. Most teams have been slowing it down on us, but I think that’s been to our advantage. We expected Fullerton to play more up-tempo and they did.”

Fullerton focused on getting the ball inside from the start and it worked well. “Coach wanted us to pound the ball inside, and we did what he had in mind,” Caldwell said.

Caldwell scored three baskets from close range early, and Harmon established his one-on-one game. The Titans led by eight points at 32-24 when Harmon went out in the first half. Harmon returned to the bench in the second half, but didn’t start. Harmon returned three minutes into the second half, but lasted less than a minute before he had to leave the game.

Despite Harmon’s absence, the Titans built a 17-point cushion at 45-28, but Pepperdine came back behind the shooting of Gardner and Al Minahan. The Waves cut the deficit to five points at 54-49, but the Titans held off the challenge.

Harmon said he hopes he can be back in the lineup this week. The Titans play at Loyola Marymount on Wednesday and are at home against Saint Mary’s next Saturday.

“My ankle feels as big as a basketball right now,” Harmon said after the game. “But I’ll start getting treatment on it again right away in the morning. I’m just happy we won.”