IN A NUTSHELL
The Titans (9-22, 1-15) were on a roll in late December and took a 5-game winning streak and an 8-7 record into the Big West Conference schedule. The opening game was at UC Riverside on Jan. 8 and the results of that night would set an ominous tone for the rest of the season.
Fullerton overcame an early 18-point deficit and the rally produced a 3-point lead in the closing minutes. But the Highlanders forced a tie, won in overtime and the Titans would go on to the worst conference record in their Div. I history, which dates to the 1974-75 season.
Two more overtime losses on back-to-back Saturdays including a second one to UCR on Homecoming bracketed what would be the lone Big West victory, 69-53, on Feb. 5 over CSUN. Leading scorer Alex Harris missed three games with a thigh contusion and the losing continued down the stretch with nine consecutive defeats to close the season. It seemed one brutal stretch in every game would doom the Titans in an otherwise competitive performance.
BIG WEST TOURNEY ABSENCE
The Titans finished in ninth place in the Big West Conference and did not qualify for the post-season tournament for only the fourth time (also in 1996, 2000 and 2002) in the tourney's 40-year history. The Titans have made more appearances (36) than any other current member (Long Beach 34, UC Irvine 32, UCSB 31) and are tied for the lead with Pacific (36) among the all-time membership.
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LOSING STREAK
Fullerton lost its last nine games, its longest losing streak since the 2001-02 team lost 10 in a row.
OVERTIME BLUES
Fullerton lost three overtime games this year and Coach Dedrique Taylor is 0-4 in his brief Titan tenure. All-time, Fullerton is 44-55 in extra time games.
CLOSE IN EIGHT LOSSES
Fullerton was usually very competitive despite the results in Big West play. Eight of the closest losses in one sentence each:
• at UCR, they rallied from 18 points down to lead by 3 at 1:30 of regulation only to lose in overtime
• vs. UCI they rallied from 17 down to close within 3 points as late as the 0:15 mark
• vs. UC Davis they rallied from 16 down to close within 5 points as late as 2:08
• at Cal Poly they rallied from 15 down to close within 5 as late as 4:42
• vs. Long Beach State, the Titans let an 11-point lead with 4 minutes to play get away and lost in overtime
• vs. UC Riverside they overcame a 13-point second-half deficit, took a 4-point lead with 4:17 to play, twice in the last minute of regulation came from 2 down to tie only to lose in OT after scoring first
• at UC Davis they were down 51-47 with less than 7:00 to go but surrendered an 8-1 spurt
• at UCI they were down 44-40 with 7 minutes to play but the Anteaters hit three 3-pointers in a row to fuel an 11-4 run which became a 16-6 surge
WELL EXPOSED
The Cal State Fullerton men's basketball team made its 11th television appearance of the 2014-15 season on March 7 vs. Hawai'i on ESPN3. The breakdown includes six appearances via ESPN3, two on the Pac-12 Network, two on Prime Ticket and one on ROOT Sports.
BIG WEST STATS LEADERS (as of March 9)
(in All games)
• Josh Gentry ranks 1st in free-throw percentage (.910)
• Steve McClellan ranks 4th in rebounding (8.1)
• Alex Harris ranks 6th in scoring (15.8), 6th in assists (3.50) and 4th in steals (1.46)
• Lanerryl Johnson ranks 4th in free-throw percentage (.843), 12th in scoring (12.4), 9th in made 3-pointers (1.87) and 6th in 3-pt percentage (.430)
(in Big West games only)
• Steve McClellan was 2nd in rebounding (9.0)
• Josh Gentry was 1st in free-throw percentage (.892 - 33 of 37)
• Lanerryl Johnson was 10th in scoring (13.1), 3rd in FT percentage (.867), 9th in 3-pointers (1.88) and 6th in 3-pt percentage (.441)
• Alex Harris was 3rd in scoring (16.1), 4th in steals (1.54) and 5th in assists (3.54)
HARRIS IN CLUB 1,000
Senior guard Alex Harris, who was selected honorable mention All-Big WEst Conference for the second time, completed his Titan career with 1,196 points. He became the 23rd Titan to score 1,000 with a late first-half jumper at UC Riverside on Jan. 8. Despite missing three games with a thigh contusion, he has climbed up to No. 12 in the rankings, passing Bruce Bowen (1,155), Frank Robinson (1,161), Kevin Heenan (1,164) and Gary Davis (1,165) in late February.
MORE HARRIS RECORDS
Alex Harris cracked the Titans' career Top Ten lists for 3-pt. FGs attempted and made, free throws attempted and made, steals and minutes played.
• His 144 3-pt field goals rank No. 8
• His 446 3-pt field goal attempts rank No. 5
• His 274 free throws rank No. 10
• His 407 free throws attempted rank No. 9
• His 130 steals tie him for No. 9 with Henry Turner
• His 2,843 minutes rank No. 10
MC CLELLAN
Senior forward Steve McClellan cracked the Titans' Top Ten for career field goal percentage, ranking No. 2 at .571 (165-for-289,) and single season rebounds, ranking No. 10 at 251. He was 10 made field goals shy of qualifying for the single-season field goal percentage list, where his .556 mark would have made him No. 5.
GENTRY
Senior guard Josh Gentry now ranks No. 8 on the career free-throw percentage list at .796 (113-142). He came up two attempts shy of what would have been the school record for single-season free throw percentage at .910. Arbitrarily giving him two more misses qualifies him but drops his percentage to .888, which would drop him to No. 2 below record holder Josh Akognon (.895).
JOHNSON
Junior guard Lanerryl Johnson is now in the Titans'' Top Ten single-season record book. His 3-point field-goal percentage of .430 ranks him No. 4 and his freee-throw percentage of .843 ranks him No. 5.
AT THE ARC
Fullerton has made at least one 3-point field goal in each of its last 572 games, a streak dating to Feb. 1, 1996. That night the Titans went 0-for-13 from behind the arc in a loss to Long Beach State. That zero snapped a previous string of 105 consecutive games.
THE STARTING FIVES
Cal State Fullerton used 12 different starting lineups this season including nine different ones in the last 15 games. The most common (8 games, consecutively Dec. 11 thru Jan. 15) put senior Alex Harris at the point guard position with Moses Morgan, Josh Gentry, Joe Boyd and Steve McClellan completing the starting five.
IT'S IN THE GENES
Nine players on the Titans' roster have relatives who are competing or have competed in college, international and/or pro athletics:
Sheldon Blackwell's brother, Perris, played basketball at San Francisco (3 yrs.) and Washington (1 yr.); his sister, Jada, played two years at Arizona State and is now a senior at Cal Poly Pomona where she was a finalist for NCAA Div. II player of the year in 2013-14; and his father, Henry, played defensive end at East Carolina.
Tre' Coggins' father, Sanford, played quarterback and wide receiver at Texas (1977-80) and his uncle, Rich, was a major league outfielder for Baltimore (1972-74), Montreal (1975), New York AL (1975-76) and Chicago AL (1976).
Josh Gentry's parents, Derrick & Gretchen Gentry, both competed in track and field at Illinois in the early 1980s.
Lanerryl Johnson's great grandfather is former ABA and NBA star and Naismith Hall of Famer Gus Johnson. Lanerryl's cousin, Ricky, is a third-year starting point guard at Bethune Cookman.
Jordan Mason's father, Jerry, played basketball at Texas Tech.
Steve McClellan's brother, Darshawn, played in 95 games (2008-2011) of basketball at Vanderbilt.
Moses Morgan's father, Winston, played four seasons (1981-86) of basketball at Indiana.
Temjae Singleton's father, Eldridge Hudson, played four seasons (1982-83; 84-87) of basketball at UNLV after being selected the L.A. City's 4A Player of the Year in 1982 at Carson High School.
Corey Walker's brother, Taylor, played two seasons (2011-13) of basketball at LMU.
