FULLERTON, Calif. – Cal State Fullerton men's basketball suffered its third straight loss in league play on Thursday at the hands of UC Santa Barbara. The Titans led for 34:50 of the game but could not close it out, losing 70-65 to the Gauchos. Max Heidegger, the Big West Conference's leading scorer, had a game-high 28 points for UCSB. Junior guard Kyle Allman, Jr. led the way for CSF with 24 points.
Cal State Fullerton (11-8, 4-3) had a lead of 14 at one point in the first half, led by seven at the intermission and led the all the way until the 4:20 mark of the second half when Heidegger buried a three-point field goal to put UC Santa Barbara (15-5, 4-2) up 58-56. CSF made its final field goal with 2:24 left in the game, a layup by sophomore guard Austen Awosika, to give CSF a 63-60 lead. From that point, UCSB ended the game on a 10-2 run. Awosika made two free throws with 20 seconds left but that would be it for CSF.
Awosika, who was thrust back into the starting lineup after coming off the bench for every game since the season opener, scored a season-high 14 points and chipped in six rebounds and four assists with zero turnovers in 36 minutes.
Allman led CSF with 24 points, marking the seventh time this season he scored more than 20 points. He also hauled in three rebounds, dished out two assists and recorded a steal. Sophomore forward Jackson Rowe scored nine points, snatched five rebounds and tied a career-high with five assists. He also had two blocks and a steal for the Titans.
CSF shot 41.5 percent (22-53) from the field, 25 percent (4-16) from distance and 73.9 percent (17-23) from the charity stripe. The Titans assisted on 16 of their 22 made field goals. UCSB shot just 35.1 percent (20-57) from the floor and 23.5 percent (4-17) from beyond the arc but were clutch at the stripe, going 26-30 at 86.7 percent. CSF out-rebounded UCSB 37-36, marking just the second time in nine games that CSF has lost when winning the rebounding battle.
For UCSB, Heidegger had 28 points (12-12 FT) and four rebounds. Leland King II had a double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds. Jalen Canty scored 12 points with six rebounds.
Cal State Fullerton hits the road again to play at Hawai'i on Saturday at 6 p.m. PT.
Tough one against UCSB tonight. The marathon continues. #TusksUp pic.twitter.com/Y678iBA1gY
— Titans Basketball (@FullertonHoops) January 26, 2018
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