BERKELEY, Calif. – Cal State Fullerton men's basketball lost in overtime at California on Saturday afternoon by a score of 95-89. Juniors Kyle Allman, Jr. (30 points) and Khalil Ahmad (21 points) led the Titans in scoring.
California (5-6) was led by Darius McNeill who scored 30 points (11-17 FGA, 4-7 3FG), hauled in six rebounds, dished out six assists and had five steals in 43 minutes. Marcus Lee scored 19 points and tied a game-high 12 rebounds. The Golden Bears dominated the glass, winning the rebounding battle 42-35, including 16 offensive rebounds that turned into 24 second-chance points.
California jumped out to a 12-0 lead to begin the game and led by 15 at one point in the first half but the Titans rallied to take the lead with five minutes left in the second half. Freshman guard Daniel Venzant's layup with 0.3 seconds left tied the game and sent it into overtime. In the team's first overtime game of the season, the Golden Bears outscored CSF (6-4) 15-9 to snap the squad's five-game winning streak.
.@CSFCoachTaylor on today's overtime game at Cal. #TusksUp pic.twitter.com/jyZ9XbdcxN
— Titans Basketball (@FullertonHoops) December 17, 2017
With 30 points (11-18 FGA, 4-7 3FG) for the Titans, Allman scored in double figures for the seventh straight game and scored 20+ for the third time in four games. He connected on a career-high four three-pointers but was hampered by foul trouble, playing only 30 minutes. He also grabbed five rebounds and recorded two steals. Ahmad scored 21 points (8-20 FGA, 5-13 3FG) and also had two steals. He has knocked down 4+ three-pointers and scored 20+ points in each of the last three games.
30 piece for @kyleallmanjr! #TusksUp pic.twitter.com/M5lHYAwZwv
— Titans Basketball (@FullertonHoops) December 16, 2017
Redshirt sophomore guard Jamal Smith had career-highs in points (10) and assists (seven) and a season-high five rebounds. Venzant tied a career-high in points with 10 (4-5 FGA, 2-2 3FG), including the bucket to send the game to overtime.
OVERTIME! Strong take by @VenzantDaniel and we're playing another 5 minutes! The freshman has 8 points off the bench. #TusksUp pic.twitter.com/TWKfhk0QI6
— Titans Basketball (@FullertonHoops) December 16, 2017
CSF shot the ball well as they splashed a season-high 12 three-point field goals (on 24 attempts) and shot 48.3 percent (29-60) from the field. The team also connected on 19 of 25 (76.0%) attempts at the charity stripe.
The squad returns to action on Saturday at Loyola Marymount at 6 p.m. PT.
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