FULLERTON, Calif. --- Cal State Fullerton was outscored by double digits in the second half and that was the difference as CSUN defeated the Titans, 70-65, in a Big West Conference tilt Saturday night at Titan Gym.
The Titans (7-8, 1-1) were led by Lionheart Leslie's 17 points and Tre' Coggins added 11 but the Matadors (6-9, 2-0) had four players score in double figures scored 15 points off 15 Titans turnovers. The Matadors also grabbed 10 offensive rebounds and turned that into 10 second-chance points.
"It's the same nemesis," said Cal State Fullerton head coach Dedrique Taylor. "We've got to be better in terms of taking care of the basketball; we've got to be better when it comes to the physicality part of the game and right now, that's our nemesis."
Leslie carried the Titans offense in the first half, going 4-for-4 from the field and scoring nine points to go with three assists in the first 20 minutes. Fullerton led by as much as nine but CSUN whittled it all the way down and eventually took a 29-27 lead with 4:23 left. With the teams tied at 31, the Titans finished off the first half on a 7-0 scoring run to take a seven-point lead at the break.
But the Matadors erased that deficit within the first 6:26 of the second half and caught the Titans at 47-47. After a layup from Khalil Ahmad put Fullerton up by two, Micheal Warren drilled a 3-pointer from the wing to give the Matadors their second lead of the game. The teams traded the lead a couple of more times but Warren's layup with 8:53 left gave the Matadors the lead and they would not relinquish it the rest of the way, going up by as much as five.
The Titans clawed back and cut the deficit to one, 63-62, with 2:27 left on a layup from Ahmad. But Kendall Smith answered with a midrange jumper and Leslie missed a would-be game-tying 3-pointer on the following possession. With the score 65-62, the Titans had another opportunity to tie the game but Ahmad's 3-pointer with 32 seconds left was short and CSUN scored the next three points on a free throw and a transition layup to put the game away.
Ahmad finished the game with seven points, three rebounds and three assists.
Cal State Fullerton will now hit the road for its next two conference games beginning with a trek up the central valley and into San Luis Obispo to take on Cal Poly on Thursday night at 7 p.m.
NOTES: Davon Clare's streak of double digit rebounding games ended at four after he grabbed four boards in 12 minutes of action on Saturday night… The Titans are now 41-35 all-time against CSUN and 16-15 in Big West contests. It was Fullerton's fourth straight loss to CSUN… Leslie led the team in scoring, rebounding (5) and assists (4) on Saturday night, the first time one player has led the Titans in all three categories in one game this season… Saturday night's game featured the top two scoring teams in the conference but each defense held the opposition under its season average in scoring.
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