After False Bomb Threat, Titans Lose, 59-57, in Overtime

LAS CRUCES, N.M. â€”  With 13 seconds left in overtime, New Mexico State guard Kenny Travis hit an eight-foot bank shot while almost prone on the floor and then added a free throw nine seconds later as the Aggies hung on for a 59-57 Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. victory over Cal State Fullerton Thursday night at the Pan American Center.

But that was hardly the only story and just a taste of the excitement in this dusty border town on this evening.

For Fullerton (3-6 in conference and 10-11 overall), this was the kind of day that would make any coach consider quitting. George McQuarn, who announced his resignation as Titan coach (effective at the end of the season) Wednesday, has gone without his injured top two scorers for weeks, but he also was without starting center Herman Webster, who overslept and missed the bus to the airport.

Then, after 11 minutes of the first half, McQuarn’s team had scored just five points. And New Mexico State (7-1, 13-4) had a seemingly comfortable 12-point lead at the half.

But just when it looked as if the Titans would get blown out of the gym, somebody threatened to blow up the gym.

Someone telephoned the Pan American Center to say a bomb had been planted there and was set to go off at 9 p.m. (MST). The 10,213 in the facility were evacuated at halftime and explosive-sniffing dogs were brought in from the nearby Ft. Bliss Army base in Texas. But after a search of more than an hour and a half, nothing was discovered.

As it turned out, the only mad bomber around was Kerry Boagni, Fullerton’s senior forward, who scored a career-high 31 points, including six three-pointers, most of which came from much farther than the PCAA’s 19-foot, 9-inch arc.

Boagni, who has been mired in a shooting slump for much of the season, started the game with an air ball and his next shot was a bank attempt that was almost over the glass instead of off the glass.

But he made his first four shots, three of which were three-pointers, early in the second half. The third cut the Aggies’ lead to 46-45 with 6:58 left in regulation.

The Titans, who trailed by 13 in the first half, got their first lead at 48-47 on two Henry Turner free throws with 5:29 left. Turner, who fouled out with 2:31 left in regulation, scored 14 points.

Fullerton led by three at one point late in the game and could have taken the lead with 19 seconds remaining in regulation when Alexander Hamilton missed the front end of a one-and-one situation.

But the score was tied, 51-51, at the end of regulation.

The teams traded one-point leads in overtime until Travis, who finished with 18 points, hit the fall-away--make that fall-down--jumper over Boagni. Then he made the first free throw after being fouled by Eugene Jackson, who was lying on the ground with his arms wrapped around what had been a loose ball, when he was called for the violation.

No wonder McQuarn wants out of this profession. It was the Titans’ third overtime loss in conference play this season and the second to the Aggies. New Mexico State beat Fullerton, 68-61, in overtime at Titan Gym.

“We played hard and put ourselves in a position to win,� an exhausted-looking McQuarn said. “I thought it might be deja vu. . . . we led by 13 at Fullerton and the second half was theirs. Tonight, they led by 13 and the second half was ours. But we just couldn’t do it in overtime.

“We’re not a very good shooting team these days and our free-throw shooting really hurt us. But I’m proud of the way the kids played.�

Boagni, who couldn’t seem to relish his return to form, said: “We have nothing to be ashamed of. Everyone played their butts off. Yeah, the shots were finally dropping again.�

The Titans made 13 of 28 free throws and only 4 of 8 in overtime. They also shot only 40% from the floor. The Aggies, led by Gilbert Wilburn’s 19 points, were slightly better, shooting 48% from the field and 64% at the line. Wilburn and Travis were a combined 13 of 23 from the field.

“This is the first conference game we’ve been flat. We just weren’t mentally into it,� Neil McCarthy, the New Mexico State coach, said. “Hopefully, the kids learned from this.�

And McQuarn probably wishes he made that resignation effective immediately.