SEATTLE, Wash. – Although the Cal State Fullerton men's basketball team had four players notch career-highs, the Titans could not overcome 24 fouls and 20 turnovers as they dropped an 87-69 decision to Washington Sunday night.
With the loss, the Titans saw their six-game winning streak come to an end as they drop to 6-2 on the year. The Huskies improve to 5-2 behind a double-double (15 points, 10 rebounds) from Andrew Andrews and double-figure scoring efforts from Dejounte Murray (17 points) and Matisse Thybulle (16 points).
Malcolm Brooks equaled his career-high with 20 points, a feat he has reached in back-to-back games. He shot 54.5-percent from the field after connecting on 6-of-11 field goals. Brooks was the leading scorer on the night as he led Lionheart Leslie and Lanerryl Johnson in double-figures.
Leslie registered a career-best 16 points for the Titans and Johnson added 13 points. Leslie shot 4-for-5 from the field, 3-for-3 from beyond the arc and 5-for-6 from the stripe.
Jamar Akoh also turned in a career-performance as he cleaned up the glass collecting seven rebounds. He also added three points, two assists and one steal.
Rounding out the Titans in career-bests was Kennedy Esume who grabbed three steals to lead the squad to a total of 10 steals in the game.
The Titans started out the first half hot as they took an early 4-0 lead and extended that lead to 11 points (20-9) at 12:06, however, 19 fouls and 12 turnovers in the frame allowed the Huskies to get back into the game. Washington's Thybulle hit a three at 4:24 that gave the Huskies their first lead of the game; a lead they would never relinquish.
Although Fullerton went into halftime trailing 46-37, the Titans out-shot the Huskies nearly 43-percent to 38-percent in the frame. CSF also held the edge in steals, 8-5. However, Washington owned the advantage in rebounding (24-18), assists (7-5) and blocks (3-1). The Huskies also sunk 17 free throws to the Titans' nine made free throws.
The Huskies heated up offensively in the second half as they shot 50-percent from the field (17-for-34), while their defense limited the Titans to just 27.3-percent shooting. Washington outscored Fullerton 41-32 in the frame and pushed its lead to as many as 22 (76-54).
Cal State Fullerton managed to cut the 22-point deficit down to 14 points (76-62) after a three pointer from Leslie at 5:34. But that was as close as the Titans would come as the Huskies surged ahead and won the game 87-69.
On the evening, the Titans shot 34.4-percent from the field in comparison to the Huskies' 44.6-percent shooting. Cal State Fullerton held the edge in rebounding (43-42) and steals (10-8), while Washington owned the advantage in assists (18-8), blocks (11-2) and points off of turnovers (20-17).
Fullerton returns to Titan Gym on Saturday, Dec. 12. The Titans will host Loyola Marymount at 6 p.m. This will be the second meeting between the two schools this season as Cal State Fullerton dropped its season opener to the Lions (79-74) last month. Live stats, video and audio will be available on FullertonTitans.com.