Feb. 25, 2011

Fullerton, Calif. -

Complete Release in PDF Format

UPCOMING:
Sat., Feb. 26 -- Cal Poly SLO, Titan Gym (4,000), 8:05 p.m.
- ESPNU-TV (Announcers: Todd Harris & Bill Herenda)
Thur., March 3 -- at Pacific, Spanos Center (6,150), 7 p.m.
Sat., March 5 -- at UC Davis, The Pavilion (7,600), 7 p.m.

IN A NUTSHELL: The Titans (9-18, 5-8) try to avoid the longest losing streak in the Bob Burton Era when they host second-place Cal Poly SLO (currently 14-13, 9-5) in the final home game of the season. Fullerton has lost four in a row, its longest skid since Burton's first Titan team lost four in a row between Dec. 30, 2003, and Jan. 10, 2004. Fullerton hasn't lost five in a row since a 10-game skein late in the 2001-02 season.

AUDIO: Most Titan games can be heard live on the internet. Listeners may access the CSF Athletics home page at www.fullertontitans.com and follow the links. Mike Martinez will do the play-by-play for the Cal Poly game.

PROBABLE STARTING LINEUP:
No. Name Ht. Yr. ppg a/rpg Quick Notes
G 21 Perry Webster 6-1 Jr. 8.1 5.0a Leads BWC in assists-to-turnover ratio at 2.41-to-1; second to Ware w/5.0 apg
G 3 Devon Peltier 5-11 Sr. 14.0 1.8r Leads BWC in free-throw percentage at .898; 16th in nation thru 2/20
F 15 Orane Chin 6-7 Jr. 12.5 5.8r Bounced back from scoreless game vs. CSUN to get 16 points at UCSB
F 0 Andre Hardy 6-6 Jr. 11.7 8.8r Leads team with 4 double-doubles and a rebound shy of three others
C 12 Jer'Vaughn Johnson 6-6 Sr. 14.5 6.3r Had best game of career with 22 points, 13 rebounds vs. Long Beach on 1/19
OFF THE BENCH:
G 11 Roger Guardia 6-4 Sr. 2.3 2.1r Season-high 14 pts. vs. USD, made all four 3-point attempts; started at UofA
G 13 Isiah Umipig 6-1 Fr. 6.9 1.3r Led team in scoring vs. UCI on 2/3 with third 19-point game of season
G 14 Orlando Brown 6-1 Jr. 4.0 2.9r Back-to-back outstandings efforts in losses to UCR and CSUN w/ 27 pts.
G 32 Eric Williams 6-3 Sr. 1.6 1.2r Scored season-high 8 points in 11 minutes at UCSB; started at Idaho State
C 33 Sedric Martin 6-6 Jr. 2.8 1.7r Scored 13 points in first start of season at USC
F 45 Steve Jurich 6-7 Jr. 2.8 1.9r Got third start of season vs. Occidental

HOW YOU SAY IT: dee-VAHN pehl-tee-AY &\#149; Steve JUHR-itch &\#149; OHR-uhn Chin &\#149; Roger GWAHR-dee-uh &\#149; eye-ZAY-uh YOO-muh-pig

LAST GAME: The Titans lost their BracketBuster game at Idaho State, 84-79, despite shooting 50 percent from the floor, making 6-of-15 3-point tries and outrebounding the Bengals, 35-23. Fullerton, which trailed by as many as 15 points in the second half, committed 17 turnovers to 10 for the hosts, who made a season-high 12 3-pointers in 28 attempts. Devon Peltier had a career-high 32 points for Fullerton but Broderick Gilchrest almost matched him with 29 for ISU.

THE COACH: Bob Burton is 132-110 in his eighth season at Cal State Fullerton and career. He has the most victories at the Div. I level and trails only Alex Omalev (139-176 in 12 years) all-time. Burton's winning percentage of .545 trails only Bobby Dye (.583, 109-78). He is 9-7 vs. Cal Poly, 4-3 in Titan Gym.

ABOUT THE MUSTANGS: Cal Poly (14-13, 9-5) had won six in a row before losing at home to Northern Arizona, 59-56, in an ESPNU BracketBuster game on Saturday and at Long Beach on Thursday, 61-55. The Mustangs lead the Big West in scoring defense (58.4 ppg) and have allowed only one of their last eight opponents to score more than 61 points. Shawn Lewis (15.4 ppg) and David Hanson (14.9) score half of the team's points while 6-foot-8 center Will Donahue leads in rebounding at 9.0 rpg, fourth best in the Big West.

SERIES HISTORY: Cal Poly leads it, 30-23, but only 16-14 at the Div. I level (since 1996-97). Fullerton had won five of the last six meetings and four in a row in Mott Gym before losing on Jan. 13, 58-54, when the host Mustangs overcame a 32-22 halftime deficit. Hanson had 25 points as the Mustangs made 6-of-11 second-half treys after going 2-for-11 before intermission. Fullerton made only 2-of-18 treys and shot a season-low .327 from the floor.

FRIENDLY CONFINES: Under Bob Burton, the Titans are 69-33 (.676) in Titan Gym including 35-4 (.897) in non-conference games. Fullerton had won its last 13 and 32 of the last 33 home non-conference games prior to the Dec. 22 loss to Montana. Fullerton's all-time Div. I Titan Gym record is 294-167 (.638). Fullerton also is 1-8 in regular season home games at the Anaheim Convention Center.

ROAD STRUGGLES: Under Bob Burton, the Titans had made dramatic strides as a road team before this year's 2-14 effort. They are 60-66 (.476) away from Titan Gym (includes 11-15 on neutral floors) from `04-05 to the present. For the previous 10 seasons (1994-95 thru 2003-04) the combined road record was 30-115 (.207). With a 3-11 mark in his first season (2003-04), Burton's total CSF road record is 63-77 (.450).

SECOND-HALF FADES: The Titans are only 7-5 after leading at the half. Only two of those wins were "easy." On Dec. 4 vs. USD, the Titans led by 2 at the half and pulled away in the final 10 minutes. On Dec. 18, a 5-point lead over Occidental was expanded to 16 points 8 minutes into the second half. The other five brought on "nervous time."
&\#149; at USD on Nov. 1, the lead was 55-48 with about 7 minutes to play before USD had a 10-0 run to lead, only to eventually miss three shots in the paint to regain the lead in the final five seconds and then miss a trey at the buzzer to tie
&\#149; vs. Pacific on Dec. 30, the Titans led, 51-39 with 5:16 remaining only to go scoreless until Devon Peltier's tie-breaking, lucky bounce 3-pointer with 00.4 on the clock
&\#149; at UCR on Jan. 8, the lead was 73-68 with six seconds to go but UCR tied it on a 3-pointer and two foul shots stemming from a technical foul for a "sixth" timeout
&\#149; vs. Long Beach on Jan. 19, Fullerton saw all but 2 points of a 10-point lead disappear in the final 44 seconds
&\#149; vs. UC Irvine on Feb. 3, CSF saw all of a 10-point halftime edge disappear before beating UCI with a 17-11 finish
The five losses after leading at the half:
&\#149; vs. Central Michigan on Nov. 12, a 4-point lead became a loss when the Chippewas hit a trey at the buzzer
&\#149; at Montana on Nov. 30, a 6-point lead fell to a 52-point second half for the Grizzlies
&\#149; at Portland State on Dec. 12, a 5-point lead swelled to 11 before the Vikings rallied to take the lead in the final minute
&\#149; at Cal Poly on Jan. 13, a 10-point lead grew to 12 before a 3-pointer-fueled rally by SLO, which took the lead for good with 1:28 to play
&\#149; vs. CSUN on Feb. 10, a 10-point lead grew to 14 before a 3-pointer-fueled rally by CSUN, which took the lead for good with 0:24 to go
Fullerton is 2-13 when trailing at the half, rallying only vs. Cal State Bakersfield and at UC Riverside.

TITAN PLAYER THUMBNAILS: Orlando Brown - played his best two games of the season back-to-back earlier this month... had 11 points on 5-for-5 at the line and 2-for-3 at the arc and total FGs on Feb. 5 vs. UC Riverside... had season-high 16 points on 5-for-6 FGs and 3-for-4 at both arc and FT line on Feb. 10 vs. CSU Northridge... playing time had diminished with the arrivals of first Jer'Vaughn Johnson and later Andre Hardy... he played total of 42 minutes in back-to-back games vs. UoP and at UCI but only 25 minutes total over the next 4 games... started first 8 games of the season... twice has grabbed 9 boards in a game... usually guards opponents' top scoring threat... scored 11 points vs. Cal State Bakersfield on Nov. 27 and 10 in Bakersfield on Jan. 25... hit a big trey in the second half vs. Long Beach on Jan. 19.

Orane Chin - has had an up and down season... Big West Player of the Week (Jan. 17-23) for his efforts in wins vs. Long Beach State and UCSB but struggled following week on the road, averaging 3.5 points on 3-for-17 (.176) shooting in losses at Bakersfield and Long Beach... bounced back on Feb. 3 with double-double and pivotal 3-point play with 33 seconds to go vs. UCI but then was 2-for-8 FGs for only 8 points and 1 rebound vs. UCR on Feb. 5 and failed to score vs. CSUN on Feb. 10... was one rebound shy of a double-double in the win over the 49ers on Jan. 19 with 12 points and 9 rebounds... on Jan. 22 he led team with 18 points vs. UCSB, scoring 11 unanswered points late in the first half to erase an early UCSB advantage and his free throws at 3:15 put the Titans ahead to stay, 51-50... scored career-high 32 points at Portland State on 13-of-22 shooting (4 of 7 treys)... made the Rainbow Classic all-tournament team, averaging 22.7 ppg and 6.0 rpg.

Roger Guardia - has played only 7 minutes in last 9 games, all at Long Beach... after 6 scoreless games, scored 6 first-half points at Cal State Northridge on Jan. 15... he averaged 19 minutes over five games between Nov. 30 to Dec. 18 but has played a total of only 83 minutes in last 13 games... grabbed 9 rebounds at Montana and against USD had 14 points including 4-for-4 from 3-point line... started at Arizona.

Andre Hardy - in 15 games since returning from ankle surgery is averaging just under a double-double at 11.7 ppg and 8.8 rpg... has suffered through dental problems the past few weeks... scored what proved to be the winning bucket vs. Long Beach State on Jan. 19 with layup for 88-82 lead with 13 seconds remaining... after a rusty first half vs. Montana on Dec. 22 (in first game action since March, 2009, in the NCAA Tournament for Oral Roberts), had 11 points and 8 rebounds after intermission to post only the third double-double (11 pts., 11 rebs.) by a Titan this season... almost did it again vs. UC Davis with team-high 19 points and 9 rebounds in a starting role and had 17 points and 9 boards vs. Pacific before being ejected for "fighting" with 2:57 to play... missed game at UCI but came back with second double-double (14 pts., 10 rebs.) at UCR on Jan. 8 and had a third with 12 points and 10 boards at Cal Poly on Jan. 13... just missed again with 12 points, 9 rebounds on Feb. 3 vs. UC Irvine... had fourth DoubleD with 19 points and 12 rebounds vs. CSUN on Feb. 10.

Jer'Vaughn Johnson - only returning starter from last year...strained knee ligament in early practice session; released to practice again on Nov. 18 and debuted with 13 minutes off the bench at USC on Nov. 24... has been most consistent Titan player... ranks second in Big West to CSUN's Lenny Daniel (.589) in field-goal percentage at .561... went 6-for-7 at Bakersfield on Jan. 25... was 6-for-8 on Feb. 3 vs. UCI 4-for-6 vs. UCR on Feb. 5 and 6-for-10 vs. CSUN on Feb. 10... had arguably best game of Titan career on Jan. 19 vs. Long Beach, one point and one rebound shy of his career highs with 22 points and 13 rebounds in 34 minutes against the athletic 49ers... made all 7 shots and all 5 free throws in 19-point game at Portland State before fouling out with 1:16 to play.

Steve Jurich - has not played in past 9 games and has played total of only 35 minutes vs. Big West competition... averaged 8 points and 2.5 rebounds in two starts in Hawai'i before back problem sidelined him... came off the bench at San Diego and played 21 minutes with 5 points and 5 rebounds... had season-high 7 rebounds at Montana.

Sedric Martin - had 8 points in 7 minutes of play at Long Beach State on Jan. 29... had season-high 5 rebounds in 11 minutes at UC Irvine on Jan. 5 after not playing at all in two previous games... got 5 more boards at Cal Poly on Jan. 13... got first start at USC and made 6-of-9 shots against the Trojans' twin 6-10 towers and scored 13 points... hit two free throws at 3:39 to tie Hawai'i game at 70-70.

Devon Peltier - has had a streaky season... last seven games, in order, has scored 23, 7, 5, 14, 4, 19 and career-high 32 points... in less than two seasons has moved into ninth place on Titan career 3-point field goal list at 133... is No. 14 in attempts at 327... failed to start (discipline) for only time this season vs. CSUN on Feb. 10... leads Big West in free-throw percentage at .898... began week No. 16 in the nation... 39-for-42 (.929) at the line in Big West play... hit game-winning trey in final second to beat Pacific on Dec. 30... led the Titans with 15 points at USC and 20 at Montana and in between was most of the Titans' offense in the second half at San Diego, scoring 14 of his career and game-high 24 points... led team with 19 at Arizona, making 4 of 6 treys.

Isiah Umipig - started vs. CSUN on Feb. 10 and had 8 points... posted solid back-to-back games vs. Long Beach on Jan. 29 (12 points on 5-for-10 FGs) and vs. UCI on Feb. 3 (19 points on 6-for-11 FGs)... had similar back-to-back breakout performances a month ago... led desperate rally at UCI on Jan. 5 by scoring 16 points in final 6 minutes for season-high 19 points (5-of-5 FGs, 5-of-5 FTs)....started for injured Perry Webster at UCR on Jan. 8 and scored 19 again including 7 in first 4 minutes of second half to almost erase 8-point deficit and then back-to-back buckets in final five minutes when UCR had pulled within a point.

Perry Webster - leads Big West in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.41 to 1.0 (130 to 54) and is No. 2 behind CSULB's Casper Ware in assists at 5.0 per game... led team with 15 points on Feb. 5 vs. UCR including back-to-back treys 24 seconds apart for 52-44 lead at 13:19... clutch down stretch at home vs. Long Beach and UCSB, scoring 7 points in 9-4 CSF run that produced 83-74 lead at 0:55 vs. the 49ers and hitting trey to beat the shot clock for 58-50 lead over UCSB at 0:35... after scoreless game at USC came back for season-high 17 points vs. Cal State Bakersfield and matched that vs. Occidental... matched it again -- all in the second half -- at CSUN on Jan. 15... had 10 assists in double-double with 10 points at Portland State... scored only 5 points at San Diego but they turned a 58-55 deficit into a 60-58 lead on back-to-back possessions (2 free throws and a trey around his steal).

Eric Williams - had not played in previous 5 games but came off bench in first half on Feb. 16 at UCSB and finished with season-high 8 points in 11 minutes on 3-for-4 shooting... that effort earned him third start of season at Idaho State on Saturday... played solid 19 minutes on Jan. 8 in win at UC Riverside and made big trey in second half vs. Long Beach State on Jan. 19... got 5 points at CSUN on Jan. 15.