Fans show their support on homecoming night at the Titan Gym. (Robert Huskey/ Daily Titan)

The fast break layup, the 3-point daggers, the mammoth dunks, blocked shots that go 10 rows into the stands, the posturing and primal yell afterward, and a packed and very loud house — this is what college basketball is all about. Big plays create momentum and can sway a crowd, which ultimately makes a team win and lose games.

Last Saturday against UC Santa Barbara, the Titans were on the verge of being blown out when they were down by 12 before the half. However, Isiah Umipig’s 3-point buzzer beater, which had no business going in, got the 3,224 fans in attendance back into the game and changed the mindset going into the second half.

When a home crowd backs a team, it psychologically acts as another man on the court. That’s where football and soccer sayings such as, “twelfth man,” or in this case, a “sixth man” on the court stem from. The pressure of a crowd can influence referee’s decisions. For example, the difference between a charge and a block is so minute that the decision favors the home team. A home crowd changes player’s attitudes. They develop swagger. Every play is multiplied by ten.

Titan forward Omondi Amoke spoke post game about what a big play can do. “It’s a momentum shifter. When you get a big block it gets the guys going, it gets the crowd into it. Just like a charge. Those are big plays in a game.”

All this is great and everything, but the only way for that to happen is to get some people to an actual game. Saturday’s game had the highest attendance at Titan Gym since 2007. Why does it have to be homecoming to draw a crowd? That’s what I have always pondered, and so do the players on the CSUF men’s basketball team.

Junior guard D.J. Seeley said after the UCSB game, “I wish we could have it every night.”

“It was real fun. I wish we could get that crowed every time we play,” said junior guard Kwame Vaughn after UCSB.

“If this doesn’t bring them out I don’t know what will. We got a really good team, fun to watch, exciting, we’re in the mix and the kids made the difference for us tonight,” said Titan Head Coach Bob Burton.

I broke the journalism rules of triple-quoting to illustrate a point, people. Your basketball team needs you. They want you there. You, the 3,224 fans that showed up Saturday night, are the reason why they beat UCSB. On any other night the Titans would be dead and buried. Your intensity and your never-say-die attitude brought the Titans back into the game.

I’ve never seen so much support in my two years watching and covering the team. Even I, a student-reporter who loves his school, but still has to abide by the journalistic code and be a cold-hard bastard, got emotionally involved on some plays (I hope nobody saw).

The advantage our school has over any other program in the area is that we’re a Division I program. Other schools don’t have that luxury. And if you didn’t know this already, our basketball team is good and plays a very exciting brand of basketball. Saturday night definitely proved that point. They will be for at least two years. This team has a legitimate shot at making the NCAA tournament and it will be a lot tougher to make it if you’re not there.

The Titan Gym was an absolute madhouse on homecoming. We showed that it can be a difficult place to play. Let’s continue to build on this and show support for your team. They notice when you do.