The downside is NCAA rules prevent the public from watching and no official stats are supposed to be tabulated. The upside is these scrimmages should help to better prepare the team as opposed to playing Division II or III teams.
According to reports the Titans did not fare too well against the Toreros of San Diego, "losing" the 40 minute scrimmage by 6 or 7 points, depending on your sources. Slacking on defense and poor outside shooting were the culprits in this match. Projected starter Gary Nunez did not play because of Tonsillitis and neither did returning starter Jermaine Harper who has been sidelined with a leg injury.
The Titans started out much better against San Diego State in the second scrimmage. They led the Aztecs by eight points at halftime. In the second half, however, the Titans decided not to play defense and SDSU outscored Cal State Fullerton 18-2. The Titans ended up "losing" this scrimmage by four points. Hitting outside shots and poor defense were again a problem in the second half.
The good news from this scrimmage is that freshman wing Jerard Moret played extremely well.
Not sure if you can say this is good news, but the Titans have learned that backup point-man John Clemmons has only suffered a sprained ligament on his foot. Initially coaches feared his season may be over with another broken foot (the other one, not the one he broke earlier late last season). He practiced some yesterday but will likely be held out an indeterminate amount of time as a precautionary move.
Jermaine Harper is back! The senior sharp-shooter had his first practice session yesterday since having a cyst removed from behind his left knee. Obviously he is a ways away from getting back into basketball shape after sitting out much of the summer and all of the fall practices.
He may see some time against Hope on Sunday, however. The Titans are very thin on outside shooters right now so this is welcome news to the program.