FULLERTON, Calif. – Loyola Marymount used a shooting percentage of 54 and boasted two 20-point scorers Saturday night at Titan Gym as the Lions defeated Cal State Fullerton 82-70. Despite having three players in double figures, the Titans were handed their first home loss of the season and their first back-to-back losses this year.
LMU (6-4) was led offensively by Steven Haney and Marin Mornar who registered 26 and 20 points in the contest. The Lions had another two players tally double-figures in Brandon Brown (14 points) and Petr Herman (12 points). Brown nearly missed a double-double as he dished out nine assists on the night.
Although Cal State Fullerton (6-3) had three players in double-figures, the Titans' defense was unable to contain the Lions. Tre' Coggins led the offensive attack with 18 points – his first double-figure effort since CSF's win against Nevada. Coggins connected on 7-of-15 field goals and was 2-for-6 from beyond the arc in the game. He also added four rebounds and three assists for the Titans.
Also in double-figures for Fullerton was Lanerryl Johnson who notched 16 points as he shot 60-percent from the field (6-of-10) and was 2-for-3 from three-point range as well as from the free throw line.
Malcolm Brooks rounded out the Titan double-figure scorers with 14 points as he was 4-for-7 from the field and 3-for-5 from long distance. Brooks was a perfect 3-for-3 from the charity stripe and he added two rebounds and one assist.
Jamar Akoh cleaned up the glass for the Titans with six rebounds, five of which were defensive. In addition to his post presence, Akoh added two points, a pair of assists and the Titans' only steal of the game.
The Titans got off to a slow start as LMU led by seven (16-9) at 11:18. However, a three pointer from Coggins at 10:59 sparked a 10-3 Cal State Fullerton run. CSF grabbed its first lead after a pair of made free throws from Coggins and led by three (24-21) before the Lions evened the score at 24-all.
The first half was a battle that saw six ties and four lead changes before Loyola Marymount hit a pair of jumpers to take a 35-31 advantage into the locker room at half time.
LMU started the second half hot as the Lions outscored the Titans 10-2 in the first three minutes of action, forcing Fullerton head coach Dedrique Taylor to call for a timeout. The break in action did little to stop the Lions as they extended their lead to as many as 19 (72-53) in the frame.
In the final five minutes of play, Fullerton attempted to chip away at LMU's lead cutting the deficit to 13 a few times, before falling by 12 (82-70).
On the evening the Titans were out-shot 54.2-percent to 41.5-percent. The Lions held the edge in assists (21-12), blocks (3-1), steals (4-1) and points off turnovers (22-6).
Cal State Fullerton looks to get back on the winning track when it travels to Portland, Ore., to compete in the Far West Classic against Oregon State on Dec. 18 at 8 p.m., and Portland on Dec. 19 at 5:30 p.m.