FULLERTON, Calif. - Cal State Fullerton men's basketball dropped the Big West opener on Thursday night in Titan Gym by a score of 75-69 to Hawai'i. Eddie Stansberry scored a game-high 25 points on 10-15 shooting to lead the Rainbow Warriors to their fourth straight win over the Titans dating back to March of 2018. Senior guard Austen Awosika led the Titans in scoring with 22 points and a game-high five assists.
Hawai'i (10-5, 1-0 BWC) jumped out to a 10-3 lead and did not relinquish that lead as it never trailed in the game. The lead peaked at 16 with 8:39 left in the second half but the Titans (5-11, 0-1 BWC) furiously battled back to cut the deficit to just one with 1:06 left in the game. However, Hawai'i got a bucket out of the timeout, picked up a stop on the defensive end and then sunk two free throws to ice the game.
On the night, the Rainbow Warriors shot 46.9% from the field, going exactly 15-32 from the floor in both halves. From beyond the arc they shot 7-16 (43.8%) and 8-12 (66.7%) from the the free-throw line. Hawai'i didn't shoot exceptionally well, it just made timely baskets whenever necessary to keep Fullerton at bay.
The Titans went 47.2% from the floor, just 4-14 (28.6%) from distance and 15-23 (65.2%) at the stripe. Hawai'i won the rebounding battle 38-32 and assisted on 14 of its 30 field goals while the Titans assisted on seven of their 25.
Awosika's 22 points marked a career-high against a DI opponent. He shot 7-13 from the floor and 8-11 from the free-throw line. He hauled in four rebounds, dished out five assists and committed just one turnover in 39 minutes of action. He also drew a game-high eight fouls. Senior forward Jackson Rowe had 16 points and nine rebounds along with a steal and a block. He also drew eight fouls and went 5-7 from the line. Senior guard Brandon Kamga tallied 12 points, three rebounds and a block. He fouled out with 6:39 left.
Next up, Fullerton heads to UC Riverside on Saturday at 5 p.m. PT.
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