LOS ANGELES – Despite a valiant effort from junior guard Lanerryl Johnson, Cal State Fullerton could not convert the game-tying bucket in the final moments of a 53-49 loss to USC at Galen Center on Tuesday night.
With nine seconds left on the clock and the Titans (1-3) trailing the Trojans, 51-49, Johnson drove the lane but his shot was blocked by USC's Nikola Jovanovic and the Trojans (3-3) scored at the other end of the floor to end the game.
Johnson's attempt was the second the Titans had to even the contest in the final minute as Moses Morgan missed a three-point attempt with 27 seconds left followed by a miss on the put back by Josh Gentry and a block by USC's Darion Clark that rejected Joe Boyd's inside shot on the three-attempt sequence.
Johnson scored a game-high 21 points – 18 in the second half – while also knocking down 5-of-7 from three-point range – four from long distance in the final 20 minutes.
The Titans trailed by as many as 14 in the second half, 40-26, with 11:59 to play as USC opened the second period on 13-4 run with Fullerton committing six turnovers and shooting just 1-of-9 from the floor during that stretch.
But behind Johnson, the Titans pieced together a 16-4 run closing 44-42 with 5:28 remaining in the game. During that stretch, Johnson scored five points, while Gentry added five points as well, and additional scoring came from Morgan, Kennedy Esume and Steve McClellan.
Morgan was the other Titan in double figures with 10 points while Boyd led Fullerton with eight rebounds.
Jovanovic led USC with 13 points, 10 rebounds, and four blocks while Clark added 10 points, a game-high 14 boards and three blocks.
USC outscored Fullerton 32-18 in the paint while the Titans committed 17 turnovers.
Fullerton shot a season-low 32.1 percent (18-of-56) from the floor, but held USC to a clip of .390 (23-of-59).
Both teams struggled from the floor in the first period as the Trojans took a 24-19 lead into halftime.
Fullerton shot just 30.8 percent (8-of-26) from the floor in the first half and committed eight turnovers.
The Trojans shot 36.7 percent (11-of-30) from the floor holding a 21-19 advantage on the boards and outscoring Fullerton 16-8 in the paint.
The Titans trailed by as many as five in the first half, but Cal State Fullerton took its first lead of the game at the 11:58 mark after Gentry hustled to the ground for a defensive rebound which led to a baseline three-pointer for Johnson as the Titans took a 15-12 advantage on a 7-0 run.
A McClellan tip-in gave Fullerton its last lead 17-16 at the 6:53 mark as the Trojans ended the first period on an 8-2 run with the Titans committing four turnovers and shooting 1-of-7 from the floor during that stretch.
The Titans will play four more road games before returning to Titan Gym. Fullerton begins play in the Spartanburg Marriott Upstate Classic on Thursday with three straight games against Wright State, SC Upstate and Florida International.
Fullerton returns to Southern California to travel to UCLA for a game on Wednesday, Dec. 3, before hosting Pepperdine at Titan Gym on Saturday, Dec. 6.
Notes: Cal State Fullerton is 0-5 all-time against USC…Johnson has led the Titans in scoring two times this season and his 21 points set a new career best…Joe Boyd has led or shared the lead for the Titans in rebounds in all four games this season…Johnson is the third Titan to score at least 20 points in a game this season…Fullerton last scored less than 50 points in a game vs. UC Irvine on March 6, 2014, producing a 44-point effort…Steve McClellan became the first Titan to foul out of a game this season.