Titans Improve, but Cowboys Ride Away With Win

Cal State Fullerton showed some improvement Saturday night, but it wasn’t nearly enough to keep pace with poised Wyoming for the full 40 minutes.

Wyoming, regarded as one of the top teams in the Mountain West Conference this season, pulled away in the final eight minutes and went on to a 78-61 victory in front of 1,023 at Titan Gym.

“We played with them in the first half, and we played with them for a while in the second half,” said first-year Titan Coach Donny Daniels. “We’re getting better, but that’s going to get old. The bottom line is that we’re still 1-5.”

Wyoming (5-1) went from a five-point lead with 7 minutes 45 seconds left to a 16-point cushion with nearly four minutes to play.

“We were in good shape, but they pressed us, and we turned the ball over too much and didn’t make free throws when we needed them,” Daniels said. “We didn’t do a good job of handling their pressure.”

Fullerton had 24 turnovers, and made only 21 of 35 free throws.

Forward Josh Davis led the Cowboys with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Forward Ugo Udezue added 12 points, making eight of 10 free-throw attempts.

“It seemed like Davis was all over the floor there for a while,” Titan center Matt Caldwell said. “He seemed to always be able to slip through and make a play on us.”

Davis was an all-conference first-team choice last season. Udezue was an all-conference selection two seasons ago but was sidelined last season because of knee problems that required surgery.

“They’re a good team, with several players who would be all-conference in our league,” Daniels said.

Despite Wyoming’s talent and experience, Fullerton trailed by only two points at halftime even though forward Ike Harmon played only four minutes in the first half because of foul trouble.

Harmon, the Titan scoring leader the last two seasons, finished with 13 points, 10 in the second half. Guard Kevin Richardson led Fullerton with 14 points and guard Ryan Dillon had 10.

“Ike’s going to have to do a job of keeping himself in the game,” Daniels said.

Fullerton was ahead, 27-26, with slightly more than five minutes left in the first half before reserve Brett McFall connected on a three-point shot and the Cowboys held on for a 33-31 halftime lead.

Harmon picked up his first foul less than three minutes into the game and was charged with his second little more than a minute later. He went to the bench and didn’t return in the first half.

Fullerton shot 50% from the field in the first half to 46.7% for the Cowboys. The Titans finished at 42.9% to 43.3% for Wyoming.

“We took their post away from them in the first half, but they made some nice adjustments,” Daniels said.

Wyoming built a seven-point lead early in the second half, but the Titans came back on consecutive baskets by Harmon to stay close. The momentum turned on consecutive field goals by Davis that started Wyoming on a run to a 66-50 lead.

“Fullerton played with a lot of emotion in the first half,” Wyoming guard Chris McMillian said. “But we were able to break away in the final eight minutes.”

McMillian, who played at Brea Olinda High, had hoped for a better performance in his homecoming. He finished with eight points, but six of them came at the free-throw line. He was one of five from the field.

The Titans’ next game is at home Saturday against Baylor. Daniels said he expects guard David Castleton to be available. Castleton was academically ineligible in the first semester.