Cunningham, Titans Feel Better at Home

Cal State Fullerton was back home in Titan Gym Thursday night and it was obvious by the way the Titans played.

Fullerton connected on a season-high 10 three-point shots in 15 attempts and shot 54.4% from the field to rack up an 88-78 victory over Utah State in front of 1,002.

It was Fullerton’s ninth victory in 10 games at home. The Titans (10-9, 4-5) are 1-8 on the road.

“This is our house, so we had to take care of things,” Titan forward Ike Harmon said. “We played with a lot of confidence.”

Utah State (11-9, 4-5) had won 10 consecutive games against Fullerton and had not lost to the Titans since 1993.

Jason Cunningham scored a career-high 23 points to lead the way. Cunningham also has a career-high four three pointers in five attempts and was eight of 11 from the field overall.

The Titans had six players in double figures with Matt Caldwell, Kenroy Jarrett and Mark Murphy each getting 12. Reserve Josh Fischer scored 11, with Harmon finishing with 10. Harmon made only three of 11 shots from the field.

“I didn’t score my normal points, but it didn’t take that for us to win the game,” Harmon said. “Jason played an outstanding game.”

Cunningham was especially pleased to be back at home and also no longer troubled by flu that left him below par physically last week.

“We put together 30 minutes.” Cunningham said, “And I felt good again.”

The Titans went with a taller starting lineup that included Caldwell, Harmon and Mark Richardson inside with Cunningham and Jarrett at the guards.

“We felt like it was time for a change,” Titan Coach Bob Hawking said. “We’ve been contemplating it for some time, but Murphy played well coming off the bench. We knew he would be able to handle that well emotionally.”

Hawking was also pleased with the effort Fischer, a freshman, turned in. Fischer was five of seven from the field. “He’s getting better every day,” Hawking said.

Hawking also was happy with the Titans’ play defensively.

“We did a good job on their big guys inside,” Hawking said.

The Titans held Donnie Johnson and Pharoah Davis to 11 points each. Guard Troy Rolle led the Aggies with 18 points.

“When you hold those two big guys to 22 points, I liked our chances,” Hawking said.

Utah State shot 45% from the field after getting only nine field goals in the first half, but the Aggies finished with 13 three-pointers, tying a school record.

The Titans made it look easy in the first half, building a 42-28 lead. It was the most points Utah State has given up in the first half this season.

Fullerton led by as many as 18 early in the second half before Utah State charged back.

The Aggies cut the deficit to three points with seven minutes 27 seconds left, but Murphy and Cunningham connected on three-pointers to keep the Titans in control.

Fullerton led by only five points with 2 1/2 minutes left, but Harmon got inside for a key basket and Jarrett nailed four consecutive free throws down the stretch.