Game 12
Cal State Fullerton vs. Portland
Thursday, Dec. 22 | 7:30 p.m.
Fullerton, Calif. | Titan Gym
Live Stream: BigWest.TV
Live Stats: FullertonTitans.com
Live Audio: FullertonTitans.com
FULLERTON, Calif. --- Cal State Fullerton is back at Titan Gym this week and welcomes Portland for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff as part of a doubleheader with women's basketball.
TICKETS & PROMOTIONS - DOUBLEHEADER (Click Here to Buy Tickets)
Cal State Fullerton students receive free admission to Titan home games with their Titan I.D. card.
Thursday's men's basketball game is part of a doubleheader with women's basketball. Prior to the men's team taking on the Pilots, the Titans women's basketball team will face San Diego State at 5 p.m. Fans that buy a ticket to the women's basketball game vs. Montana and get into the men's basketball game vs. Portland for FREE (General Admission Seating). With the purchase of a Women's Basketball ticket, fans can stay for the Men's Basketball game and sit in Sections F, G, or H.
Tickets for Women's Basketball vs. San Diego State will go on sale at Titan Gym at 4:00pm until 6:00pm. Men's Basketball tickets will be sold at Titan Gym beginning at 6:00pm. Ticket sales at the Box Office at Titan Gym are CASH ONLY! Purchase single game tickets in advance for Women's and Men's Basketball by clicking HERE.
PARKING FOR HOME GAMES (BUY ONLINE)
Parking for games played Mon-Thurs. is $8. Permit machines located in lots A, D, G, S and on the ground level of the parking structures accept Discover, MasterCard, and Visa, only. The machines located in surface lots accept $1 & $5 bills only. Parking can also be purchased online by visiting the Cal State Fullerton Parking and Transportation website. Daily permits are valid in student lots and parking structures, unless restricted. After 4pm daily permits are valid in College Park Faculty/Staff. After 6pm daily permits are valid in Lots A Faculty/Staff, E Faculty/Staff, C-West, and C-East. Parking for Fullerton games played on weekends (Fri.-Sun) is free after 5 p.m. Friday through the weekend. Please plan accordingly when attending an athletic event at Cal State Fullerton.
OPPONENTS & HISTORY
Portland | 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, Dec. 22 | Titan Gym
The Titans host the Pilots for the second straight season. Portland comes into the game off a narrow 77-75 home loss to in-state rival Portland State on Tuesday night at the Chiles Center in Portland, Ore. The Pilots are led offensively by guard Alec Wintering, who comes into the game averaging 21.3 points a game, which ranks first in the West Coast Conference and 23rd in the nation. He's also averaging 6.0 assists a game, a mark that ranks 22nd in the country. Portland also has three players averaging 34-plus minutes a game with Wintering leading that category at 36:49 per contest, a mark that ranks 11th in the nation.
Head-To-Head:
The Titans and Pilots have played 14 times and are currently deadlocked in the series, 7-7. Prior to last year's matchup at the Far West Classic held at the Moda Center in Portland, Ore., the two teams had not played against one another since 1998. Fullerton won five straight meetings from 1987-1997 before Portland snapped the streak with a 92-55 win over the Titans on Dec. 19, 1998. The Titans are 4-2 against the Pilots in Fullerton all-time.
Last Meeting:
Khalil Ahmad scored a then-career high 25 points against the Pilots, going 9-for-20 from the field but the Pilots pulled out a 65-60 victory over Fullerton at the Moda Center as part of the Far West Classic in Portland, Ore. Tre' Coggins added 17 points on 6-for-11 shooting in the loss. Alec Wintering led Portland with 19 points, seven assists, six rebounds and two steals. Fullerton trailed by just three (60-57) with just 39 seconds left in the game but missed the would-be game-tying 3-pointer which led to a layup on the other end that put the Pilots over the top for good.
LAST TIME OUT - OMAHA 102, CAL STATE FULLERTON 96 (OT)
Senior guard Lionheart Leslie led Cal State Fullerton in scoring and freshman Davon Clare posted his first career double-double but it was not enough as the Titans lost a nine-point halftime lead and fell to Omaha, 102-96, in overtime Sunday afternoon at Baxter Arena.
The Titans (4-7) shot just 16-for-45 in the second half and overtime combined while the Mavericks (7-5) were 34-for-43 from the free throw line to record the season sweep over Fullerton.
Leslie scored a game-high 23 points, 13 of those in the second half and overtime to lead the Titans offense. Clare notched a career-high in both points (11) and rebounds (12) to record a double-double in 30 minutes off the bench.
LIONS AND MEN
Senior Lionheart Leslie set a number of new personal bests at Omaha on Dec. 18. His 23 points and 10 field goals made and were both personal bests and his four steals tied his career high. Leslie has scored 20-plus in three of the last four games and is averaging 18.0 points a game in Fullerton's last four, shooting 56.3 percent (27-48) from the field while grabbing 4.5 rebounds and dishing out 3.0 assists per game during that stretch. Leslie is also the only Titans player to have played and started in all 11 games this season and is shooting 53.5 percent from the field, the fourth best percentage on the team and first amongst Fullerton's guards. He's also second on the team in rebounding, grabbing 4.7 a game.
AUSTEN CITY LIMITS
Freshman Austen Awosika had arguably the best game of his young collegiate career Sunday at Omaha. The guard played 24 minutes off the bench and posted a career high 15 points on 6-for-12 shooting, hitting 2-of-4 from beyond the arc for his first game with multiple threes. He also led the team with five of Fullerton's 15 assists in the game and grabbed three rebounds. Despite not recording a steal for the second straight game, Awosika is still tied for second on the team with 10 pilfers this season, which also ranks 15th in the Big West. Awosika is also tied for second on the team with 24 assists and is ranked first on the team and fourth in the conference with a 2.4 assist-to-turnover ratio.
THE DIRTY DOZEN
Freshman Davon Clare grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds en route to his first career double-double Sunday at Omaha. He scored 11 points, also a career best and his first double-digit scoring output, and also added two steals. His four offensive rebounds were part of Fullerton's collective 17 offensive rebound output, which along with its 48 total rebounds against the Mavericks were season highs.
SETTING THE FIRST HALF ABLAZE
Freshman Dwight Ramos scored 13 points in the first 20 minutes of play at Omaha. It was his second straight double-digit scoring game as he shot 4-of-6 from the field and drilled all three shots he attempted from beyond the arc in the first half.
TWENTY SOMETHING
Lionheart Leslie's 23-point game at Omaha was the ninth time this season Fullerton has had a 20-point scorer in a game. It was also Leslie's fourth career 20-point game, all of them coming this season. He and Tre' Coggins are tied for the team lead with four 20-point games while Kyle Allman has the other.
OWNING THE INSIDE
Cal State Fullerton has outscored its opponents 358-287 in the paint this season after a 48-36 edge over Omaha on Sunday. The Titans have been outscored on the inside just twice through 11 games.
TITANS TEAM RANKS
Cal State Fullerton continues to lead or be near the top of the Big West rankings in a number of categories. The Titans lead the conference in blocks per game (4.3) and are second in total blocks (47). Fullerton continues to lead the Big West and rank 36th nationally in free throws attempted (296). The Titans are second in the Big West in field goal percentage (46.4) and field goal percentage defense (42.8) along with scoring average (76.5 ppg).
OT UNDER DT
The Titans have played a three overtime games this season, the latest coming Sunday at Omaha where the Titans fell 102-96. Fullerton is now 1-2 in overtime games this season. Under head coach Dedrique Taylor, the Titans are currently 1-7 in games that go into overtime. This season marks the second time a Titans team has played multiple overtime games in a season under Taylor. Fullerton played three overtime games during the 2014-15 campaign.
MORE AIR TIME
The Big West Conference announced Tuesday that Cal State Fullerton's game at UC Irvine on Jan. 14 was selected as a wildcard game and will now be broadcast on ESPN3 and tip-off has been rescheduled for 5 p.m. PT. The Titans will now make a total of 10 television appearances during the 2016-17 season. The breakdown includes seven appearances via ESPN3, one on the Pac-12 Network, one on Fox Sports Prime Ticket and one on the Mountain West Network.
ON DECK FOR THE TITANS
The Titans will play their final game of the 2016 calendar year on Dec. 30 when they host Bethesda at Titan Gym.
SUPPORT THE TITANS!
Fans can purchase tickets for various Cal State Fullerton athletic events by visiting FullertonTitans.com/Tickets. The Athletic Ticket Office can also be contacted by phone at 657-278-2783 or by email at athletictixs@fullerton.edu. The Ticket Office is located at the Titan House off of Gymnasium Drive at the eastern end of the Intramural Fields and is open from 10 am – 4 pm PT, Monday – Friday.
FOLLOW THE TITANS!
Fans can keep up with the latest in Titan Athletics by following us on Facebook (Facebook/FullertonTitans), Twitter (@FullertonTitans) Instagram (@FullertonTitans) and Snapchat (FullertonTitans). In addition, the basketball team has established its own Twitter (@FullertonHoops) and Instagram accounts (@FullerotonHoops).
