Wyoming Shoots Down Tired Titans : College basketball: Fullerton suffers a cold night on the road as Cowboys win tournament final with ease, 69-51.

By ROBYN NORWOOD

Dec. 31, 1989 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

CASPER, Wyo. — On the roads around Casper, highway warning signs picture a horseman, complete with 10-gallon hat. The message, presumably, is Watch for Cowboys.

Cal State Fullerton understands what that means after a 69-51 loss to Wyoming Saturday in the championship game of the Cowboy Shootout, played in front of 6,319 in the Casper Events Center.

The Titans trailed Wyoming by as many as 21 points in the first half and by 27 in the second, never cutting the lead to single digits.

The Titans shot terribly, making 19 of 69 from the field (27.5%) and finishing the first half with 20 points, a season low. Their final total was a season low as well, far below their 81-point average.

The Titans (6-3) made only two of their first 10 shots, and didn’t score until Cedric Ceballos dunked with four minutes gone, finishing off a fast break started by a steal by Wayne Williams.

The Titans also struggled with turnovers in the first half, many of a decidedly unnecessary variety. Fullerton ruined a two-on-one fast-break opportunity when Mark Hill walked, one of his uncharacteristic five turnovers. On one of the sloppier Fullerton turnovers, David Moody tried to force a pass to Ceballos but instead simply pushed the ball into the hands of a Cowboy player, starting a fast break that ended in a dunk by Travis Butler that gave Wyoming a 32-11 lead with 4:15 to play in the first half.

“We got down in the first half because of our offense,” Fullerton Coach John Sneed said. “Nothing clicked.”

With Tim Breaux hitting from outside and Quein Higgins inside, Wyoming pulled away.

Fullerton was able to trim the lead a bit by halftime, with Hill hitting a three-pointer--his first in 11 tries over the past two games--just before the buzzer to cut the lead to 34-20.

After falling behind by 27, the Titans cut into the lead again late in the second half behind the shooting of Hill, who finished with 19 points, and Ceballos, who finished with 18. With 1:25 left, the lead was only 11, but Wyoming hit its free throws down the stretch despite averaging only 58% before Saturday.

Reginald Slater led Wyoming with 18 points, and Breaux and Kenny Smith added 15.

The loss, Fullerton’s third in its past four games, was the latest bad news for a team that started 5-0 before being blown out by 29 points at Colorado State. Fullerton lost by 12 to UCLA before winning its first-round tournament game against Middle Tennessee State Friday.

More bad news may await the Titans, who are just past the halfway mark of six games in a row on the road. They open Big West Conference play this week and must travel to play Nevada Las Vegas Wednesday, and play at Utah State Saturday. Fullerton has never won at Las Vegas, and although Utah State is a bit down this year, Logan, is traditionally a difficult place to play, and Fullerton has won there only twice in 10 years.

“I can live with 6-3 for the preseason, considering our schedule and the tough road games,” Sneed said. “Unfortunately, we have to remain on the road at UNLV and Utah State and we are a little tired.”

This Wyoming team is a much different one than Coach Benny Dees’ first at the school in 1988. That year the Cowboys had Fennis Dembo and Eric Leckner and won their first 11 games. They finished with a 26-6 record, losing to Loyola Marymount in the first round of the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. tournament.

Last season, Wyoming won only 14 games, losing 17. And Wyoming has a young team again this year, a group the folksy Dees calls “just a bunch of freshmen and sophomores.”

He starts one senior, along with three sophomores and a freshman.

With the victory, Wyoming won its own tournament for the fifth time in seven years.

“We couldn’t get started,” Ceballos said. “We couldn’t get any breaks. . . . But it’s Wyoming’s tournament.”

Tournament Notes

Northeast Louisiana defeated Middle Tennessee State in the third-place game, 81-70. . . . All-Tournament team: Mark Hill (Cal State Fullerton), Fred Thompson (Northeast Louisiana) Cedric Ceballos (Cal State Fullerton), Quein Higgins (Wyoming), Tim Breaux (Wyoming) and tournament MVP Reginald Slater (Wyoming). . . . John Sykes, who has been bothered by an allergic reaction to eyedrops, dressed but did not play. . . . Ron Caldwell, held out of Friday’s game as a disciplinary measure, played nine minutes and scored five points, including a three-pointer. . . . Ceballos, averaging eight points a game in the first half and 23.3 per game, scored eight in the first half against Wyoming.