‘Little Things’ Are Titans’ Undoing, 77-64

The game clock malfunctioned, the officials called time out and there was New Mexico State Coach Neil McCarthy, pleading for a few seconds to be taken off the clock.

“Come on, you’ve got to take 10 seconds off,” McCarthy yelled as his team’s game at Cal State Fullerton wound its way into the final two minutes.

McCarthy was worried about the clock? Coach of the Big West Conference favorite? At Fullerton?

The reality check arrived a few minutes later, as New Mexico dealt the Titans another loss, 77-64, before 923 in Titan Gym.

Fullerton (2-9 overall, 0-3 in the Big West) made the Aggies play at a slow pace and stayed within striking distance--despite tying a school record 29 turnovers.

The Titans trailed by only three points with 15:34 to play, after Winston Peterson (14 points) got free inside; four with 11:02 remaining, when freshman Chris St. Clair (11 points) made his second consecutive three-point jumper; and five with 2:01 to play when Peterson hit a jumper off the glass.

But each time the Titans crept closer, they committed a turnover.

“It seems like the trend has been that we’ll make a run at the end and then somehow turn the ball over,” said senior guard Greg Vernon, who scored only three points and missed all four three-point attempts.

Said Titan Coach Brad Holland: “It’s the little things. It’s not offense and it’s not defense. It’s not screening out, or getting a rebound, or turning the ball over less. It’s just basketball. All the little things add up.”

James Dockery had a career-high 27 points for the Aggies (10-1, 3-0). He also had 10 rebounds.