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The Sports Network.
Cal State Fullerton (4-0) at Eastern Washington (2-3)
DATE & TIME: Monday, November 27th, 10:05 p.m. (et).
FACTS & STATS: Site: Reese Court (6,000) -- Cheney, Washington.
Television: None. Home Record: Fullerton 2-0, EWU 2-0. Away Record: Fullerton
2-0, EWU 0-3. Neutral Record: Fullerton 0-0, EWU 0-0. Conference Record:
Fullerton 0-0, EWU 0-0. Series Record: Cal State Fullerton leads, 3-0.
GAME NOTES: Off to their first 4-0 start since 1989, the Cal State
Fullerton Titans try to make it five in a row tonight as they contend with the
Eastern Washington Eagles in non-conference action from Reese Court. Fullerton,
which had fairly easy outings against California Maritime and Hope International
in the first two games of the 2006-07 campaign, beat Texas-San Antonio by just
four points on the road last Wednesday and then needed overtime to get past
Louisiana-Lafayette on Friday night, 91-89. As for the Eagles, all three of
their setbacks thus far have come on the road. After crushing the likes of
Lewis-Clark State and The Evergreen State in back-to-back games, EWU hit the
road on Friday and was tripped up by 16th-ranked Washington in a 90-83 final.
With respect to the all-time series between these two schools on the hardwood,
the Titans have captured all three of the previous meetings, including an 89-63
victory as part of Bracket Buster Weekend last season.
With just under four seconds to play in overtime Bobby Brown connected on a
driving bank shot to give the Titans a two-point win over UL-Lafayette on the
road at the Cajundome. Brown finished the night just 3-of-10 from the field for
eight points, to go along with his seven rebounds and four assists in the
victory. Scott Cutley, who was making his debut for the Titans, came up with a
huge double-double consisting of 31 points and 11 rebounds, followed by Justin Burns with 14 points and a team-high 15 boards. Frank Robinson and Ray Reed
chipped in with 16 and 15 points, respectively. Thanks to overwhelming victories
against their first two opponents of the season, the Titans are averaging 91 ppg
after four contests, thanks mostly to the efforts of Reed who is dropping in
16.5 ppg, is averaging 4.5 rpg, 4.5 apg and has already recorded 14 steals. Now
that Cutley, Robinson and Brown have all served their three-game suspensions to
begin the season, expect to see even more scoring punch coming from all areas
for Fullerton.
Eastern Washington actually had the Huskies down at the break, 47-46, but then
the Eagles shot only 31.6 percent from the field and 3-of-15 behind the three-
point line in the second half and let the game get away. Rodney Stuckey tallied
a team-high 31 points for EWU, shooting 11-of-25 from the field, while Omar
Krayem and Paul Butorac chipped in 18 and 14 points, respectively. The squad
finished the night shooting only 7-of-29 from three-point range. Stuckey is
leading the team in scoring with his 26.6 ppg, shooting 47.1 percent from the
floor and 88.4 percent at the free-throw line, not to mention pacing the squad
with his 14 assists. Krayem adds 14.8 ppg and Butorac, who received stitches
after being hit in the mouth on Friday night, another 11.3 ppg to go along with
a conference-best 11.8 rpg and 10 blocked shots. Because of his efforts on the
glass, the Eagles are clearing almost 41 rebounds per game, currently five more
than the competition.
While Eastern Washington hung tough against Washington three nights ago, the
truth is the Titans are a more powerful team now that they've gotten back
several important pieces to the puzzle after they served their suspensions.
Expect to see an active contest with a lot of action up and down the floor, the
sort of spirited play that will benefit the Titans.
Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Cal State Fullerton 93, Eastern
Washington 84