LONG BEACH, Calif. – Cal State Fullerton's second-half woes continued as the Titans surrendered a one-point halftime lead and suffered a 70-57 loss to Long Beach State at Walter Pyramid on Saturday night in Big West Conference action.
The Titans (9-17, 2-11 BWC) are now on a five-game losing streak while the 49ers (15-12, 9-3), have won five in a row. Fullerton is now 4-6 in games when leading at the half.
LBSU shot 48.5 percent (16-of-33) in the second half, capitalizing on the Titans' 17 turnovers for the game, scoring 20 points directly off CSF miscues.
Brooks led Cal State Fullerton with a 14-point performance, while freshman Khalil Ahmad poured in 13 points to record his 19th double-figure scoring game of the season. Ahmad has now scored 382 points during his rookie campaign, setting the new freshman single-season record previously held by Bobby Brown (369) in 2004.
Tre' Coggins led the Titans and matched a career high with seven rebounds while also dishing a team-best four assists to go along with eight points.
The 49ers were led by Nick Faust's 14-point effort as Justin Bibbins also reached double figures with 12.
Long Beach State opened the second half in an 8-1 run to lead 36-30 as the Titans were held without a field goal until Brooks drained a jumper at the 16:40 mark.
A Coggins jump shot had the Titans within 40-39 at the 14:08 mark, but three consecutive Titan turnovers led to a 45-39 49er advantage less than two minutes later. That advantage expanded to 53-41 at the 10:29 mark as part of a 13-2 LBSU run.
Kyle Allman's jumper from the free-throw line and the Titans' stop on the defensive end put Fullerton ahead 29-28 at the break.
Brooks led all scorers with nine points in the first half as the Titans shot 38.5 percent in the first 20 minutes and held LBSU to a clip of .345 (10-of-29).
CSF also held a 24-20 advantage on the boards with Esume and Myles combining for eight rebounds.
The Titans return to action on Thursday at Cal Poly and close the regular season with two home games hosting UC Santa Barbara on Saturday, Feb. 27 and Long Beach State on Wednesday, March 2.
Notes: Khalil Ahmad broke Bobby Brown's freshman scoring record eclipsing the 369-point threshold with his first basket of the game, as Ahmad has totaled 382 points during his rookie campaign…Fullerton is 4-6 when leading at the half…junior Tim Myles took a spill over the courtside seats chasing down a rebound at the 15:33 mark of the second half and exited the game before reentering at the 14:25 mark…Fullerton was featured on Fox Sports Prime Ticket for the second time this season and the Titans have been part of 10 broadcasts in 2015-16...Fullerton scored a season-low 57 points…the Titans have lost four straight to the 49ers.