The game was the regular season finale for Fullerton (10-19, 3-13), who is guaranteed the No. 8 seed at next week's Big West Tournament playing on Thursday in the quarterfinals with the opponent and game time still to be determined. Fullerton will play the No. 1 seed with Hawai'i, UC Irvine and Long Beach State still in the hunt for the regular season championship.
The Titans erased an 8-0 deficit to start the game, and in the final seconds looked as if victory was in their grasp as freshman Khalil Ahmad was fouled behind the three-point line with six seconds left to play. He made 2-of-3 from the stripe to tie the game at 73-73, prior to LBSU's (17-13, 10-4 BWC) coast-to-coast game-winning drive down the floor.
Ahmad finished the game with 18 points and eight rebounds, but it was sophomore forward Jamar Akoh that led Fullerton with his third double-double of the season. The Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., native scored a career-high 19 points and added a game-high10 rebounds while also leading the Titans with three assists.
Lionheart Leslie's poured in 15 points as the third Fullerton player in double figures.
The 49ers were led by Nick Faust's game-high 30 points, while Bibbins added 14 and a game-high six assists.
After a clumsy first half that totaled 15 combined turnovers, the Titans and LBSU each shot nearly 52 percent in the second stanza.
Fullerton went on a 17-7 run over a six-minute span, trailing 41-36 with 13:35 left to play , to leading 53-48 with 7:34 left on the clock.
The Titans took their first lead of the second half, 48-45, after Leslie was fouled from behind the arc and connected on each of his freebies at the 9:36 mark. It was Leslie who pulled the Titans within one on the prior Titan possession, making a lay-up despite the foul and burying the free throw.
With less than three minutes to play, an inside bucket from Akoh had the Titans leading 65-63, but LBSU responded scoring six unanswered points.
Cal State Fullerton turned the ball over 10 times in the first half, but trailed only 27-26 at the break.
Ahmad led the Titans with 10 points in the first 20 minutes as Fullerton shot just 30.0 percent (9-of-30) from the floor.
Long Beach State was not much better as the teams played a sloppy first half with the 49ers totaling five miscues and shooting just 34.5 percent (10-of-29) from the floor.
Fullerton held a 26-17 advantage on the boards with six rebounds on the offensive end and came back from an eight-point deficit as LBSU held an 8-0 lead at the 14:36 mark after Fullerton missed its first 10 attempts.
Cal State Fullerton will play the No. 1 seed at the Big West Tournament on Thursday with the opponent and game time still to be determined.
Notes: Jamar Akoh scored a career-high 19 points and recorded the third double-double of his career.