Game 3
Cal State Fullerton vs. San Diego
Date: Saturday, Nov. 21
Time: 3:00 PM
Location: Fullerton, Calif.
Venue: Titan Gym
Live Stats: FullertonTitans.com
Live Streaming: FullertonTitans.com
THIS WEEK
Cal State Fullerton returns home to host San Diego on Saturday, Nov. 21 at 3 p.m. inside Titan Gym. The Titans and the Toreros have played each other 28 times and Cal State Fullerton leads that all-time series 18-10.
TICKETS & PROMOTIONS
Cal State Fullerton students receive free admission to Titan home games with their Titan I.D. card.
Additional ticket information can be found by clicking HERE.
Cal State Fullerton will return to Titan Gym for its home opener on Saturday, Nov. 21, with tip-off scheduled for 3 p.m. against San Diego.
OPPONENTS & HISTORY
San Diego | 3 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 21 | Titan Gym
San Diego is looking for its first win of the year after dropping its season opener to USC, 83-45, in Los Angeles. Senior guard Duda Sanadze led the Toreros in scoring with 12 points, while nine other Toreros scored in the game including four freshmen.
Head-To-Head: The all-time series between the Titans and the Toreros is 18-10 and Cal State Fullerton holds the lead. Saturday's contest marks the first time since 2010 that the two teams will face off. In the last two meetings, Cal State Fullerton came away victorious as San Diego will look for its first win over the Titans since 2000.
Last Meeting: Cal State Fullerton was led by senior Jer'Vaugh Johnson who scored a career-high 23 points with seven rebounds and Orane Chin had 21 points and six boards as they helped lead the Titans over the Toreros, 90-76, on Dec. 4, 2010 in Titan Gym.
BE A FOLLOWER
Fans can keep up with the latest in Titans athletics by following us on Facebook (FullertonTitans), Twitter (@FullertonTitans) and Instagram (FullertonTitans). In addition, the men's basketball team has established its own Twitter presence @FullertonHoops.
LAST TIME OUT
Down by five in the final minute and a half to play, Cal State Fullerton capitalized on its final scoring opportunities to come from behind and score the game-winning basket with just 13 seconds left as the Titans edged Pacific, 77-76, at the Spanos Center marking their first win over the Tigers since 2012.
The Titans (1-1) were led by Tre' Coggins' 21-point performance as he was 7-for-14 from the field, 4-for-8 from three-point range and 3-for-4 from the line. He also added two assists, a rebound and a steal in the win over Pacific (0-2).
Coggins set the pace for Lanerryl Johnson and Malcolm Brooks who also turned in double-figure efforts as Johnson contributed 12 points and Brooks added 10.
Lionheart Leslie finished the game with nine points and had the game-winning layup after a steal from Kennedy Esume gave the Titans back possession. The layup proved to be the difference as the Tigers missed a layup on the other end of the court and Esume grabbed the defensive rebound.
Esume concluded the game with three boards and Khalil Ahmad turned in a team-best five rebounds to set the tone for the Titans.
In the game, CSF held the edge in shooting (44.4-percent to 43.3-percent), but the difference was made behind the arc and from the free throw line as the Titans out-shot the Tigers 39.1-percent to 33.3-percent and 74.1-percent to 68.2-percent, respectively.
The Tigers received a strong showing from Ray Bowles who led the squad in scoring with 22 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double. Pacific had four double-figure scorers in T.J. Wallace (14 points), Jacob Lampkin (11 points) and David Taylor (11 points) as well as out-rebounded the Titans (41-33). However Fullerton capitalized on points off of turnovers as the Titans poured in 20 points off of the Tigers' 12 turnovers. Additionally, CSF received a lot of support from its bench as the Titans tallied 25 points off the bench.
CLEANING UP THE GLASS
Senior center Kennedy Esume grabbed a season-high 19 rebounds in the Titans' season-opener at Loyola Marymount. He finished the game just one board shy of hitting the 20-rebound plateau. The last time a Titan recorded 20 rebounds in a game was in 2012 when former Titan Omondi Amoke grabbed 21 boards against UC Irvine.
DOUBLE-FIGURE SCORERS
In the Titans' season opener, they had four double-figure scorers in Malcolm Brooks (16), Tre' Coggins (12), Khalil Ahmad (12), and Lanerryl Johnson (10). The quartet contributed to nearly 70-percent of CSF's scoring in the season opener at LMU. Coggins came back and poured in a career-high 21 points at Pacific to help lead the Titans over the Lions.
ADDING DEPTH
Kennedy Esume, a senior center, returns after leading Fullerton with 19 blocks during the 2014-15 season. Additionally, the Titans return second-leading scorer Lanerryl Johnson who averaged 12.4 points per game last season. The Titans will also see action from transfers Tre' Coggins and Malcolm Brooks who sat out a year ago due to NCAA transfer rules. Coggins comes to Fullerton from Air Force, while Brooks joins the squad after playing previously at Pepperdine.
BY THE NUMBERS
Cal State Fullerton is out-shooting opponents 45.9-percent to 38.6-percent on the year. Additionally, the Titans hold the edge in three-point shooting (38.5-percent to 29.4-percent). Fullerton has done a good job holding off its counterparts as the Titans also lead in rebounding (61-54).
TITAN TEAM NOTES
• Kennedy Esume registered a career-high 19 rebounds in Cal State Fullerton's 79-74 loss at Loyola Marymount.
• Malcolm Brooks went 7-for-11 from the field posting a 63.6-percentage with a team-high 16 points in the season opener.
• Cal State Fullerton saw four Titans score in double-figures - Malcolm Brooks (16), Tre' Coggins (12), Khalil Ahmad (12) and Lanerryl Johnson (10) in the season opener with three (Coggins, 21, Johnson, 12, and Brooks, 10) hitting double-figures in the Titans' win at Pacific.
• The starting five of Jamar Akoh, Kennedy Esume, Tre' Coggins, Lanerryl Johnson and Malcolm Brooks, combined for 52 of the Titans' 74 points (70-percent) against LMU.
• The Titans registered a come from behind vicotry at Pacific on Tuesday out-scoring the Tigers 7-0 in the final three minutes of action for the win.
AIR TIME
The Cal State Fullerton men's basketball team is scheduled to make a total of nine television appearances during the 2015-16 season.
The breakdown includes six appearances via ESPN3, two on the Pac-12 Network and one on Fox Sports Prime Ticket.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Cal State Fullerton completed the 2014-15 season with a winning record of 5-1 during non-conference games at Titan Gym, but a struggling mark of 1-14 overall on the road hampered the Titans.
Fullerton's eight-game road losing streak from Jan. 8, 2015 - March 5, 2015 was its longest since a 13-game road losing streak during the 2001-02 season from Nov. 7, 2001 - Feb. 28, 2002.
BIG WEST BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT ALL-SESSION TICKETS ON SALE
Honda Center and the Big West Conference have announced that all-session tickets for the 2016 Big West Men's and Women's Basketball Tournament will go on sale Friday, November 13.
All-session school reserved tickets will be available for $69.00. These seats will be located within a school's section and can be purchased through each institution's box office.
Premium all-session tickets located in the first four rows of seating will be available for $149.00. General admission all-session tickets are also available for $69.00. These seats can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com, all Ticketmaster retail outlets, or by calling 800-745-3000.
The 2015 Big West Tournament will be hosted for the sixth straight year at Honda Center in Anaheim. The women's tournament first round and quarterfinal games will be played at UC Irvine on March 8-9. The men's tournament begins on March 10 at Honda Center with four quarterfinal games. The semifinals and championship games for both the men and women will take place March 11 and 12 at the Honda Center.
PRESEASON PREDICTIONS
The Cal State Fullerton men's basketball team was selected to finish ninth in the Big West Conference in the Preseason Media Poll. For the third straight year UC Irvine is the media favorite to claim the Big West title, followed by UC Santa Barbara and Hawai'i.
TITANS IN THE NBA
Former Cal State Fullerton men's basketball player Josh Akognon became the 12th former Titan to appear in the NBA on April 10, 2013 playing four minutes and scoring two points to go with an assist for the Dallas Mavericks in their 102-91 loss to the Phoenix Suns at the American Airlines Center.
Akognon, who played two seasons for Fullerton from 2007-09, became the first Titan to appear in an NBA game since Bobby Brown (2003-07) competed for the New Orleans Hornets and Los Angeles Clippers in the 2009-10 season.
NBA DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE DRAFT
Four former members of the Cal State Fullerton men's basketball program were selected in the 2014 NBA Development League Draft on Nov. 1.
D.J. Seeley (2012-13) was the first Titan selected as the first pick of the second round by the Delaware 87ers.
Omondi Amoke (2012) was selected as the fifth pick of the second round by the Grand Rapids Drive.
Michael Williams (2014), the 2014 Big West Newcomer of the Year, was selected as the 15th pick of the second round by the Sioux Fall Skyforce.
Sammy Yeager (2013) was chosen as the ninth pick of the seventh round by the Los Angeles D-Fenders.
ON DECK FOR THE TITANS
Cal State Fullerton hits the road once more, when the Titans head to Cedar City, Utah to take on Southern Utah on Tuesday, Nov. 24 at 6 p.m.
