SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Cal State Fullerton guards Tre' Coggins and Lionheart Leslie combined for more than 40 points for the second time this season, but it wasn't enough as the Titans fell to the Toreros, 82-75, on Wednesday night at Jenny Craig Pavilion.
With the loss, Fullerton snaps a three-game win streak against San Diego (4-5, WCC 0-0) and moves to 3-6 on the season. The Titans are now 1-1 against West Coast Conference opponents this year.
Coggins got going early by scoring seven of first eight points for Fullerton before he led his team on a 15-4 run to give CSUF a 20-16 lead with under 11 minutes left in the first half.
Austen Awosika gave the Titans a nice boost off the bench as he scored the final four points of the half to finish the first half with four points, five rebounds, two steals and a block. Richard Peters also made an impact on the defensive end of the floor in the first half as he collected two blocks (season-high) along with two rebounds and two points.
Jackson Rowe and Coggins combined for 18 of Fullerton's 30 points in the first half and kept the Titans in striking distance as they only trailed the Toreros by one at the break, 31-30. CSUF had a strong showing on the defensive end of the floor in the first half as they held San Diego to 37.5 percent shooting from the field and only let the Toreros get to the foul line three times.
In the second half, Cameron Neubauer led the Toreros on a 21-10 run to start the half and extend the USD lead to 12, but the Titans answered back as they went on a 10-3 scoring run of their own to cut the deficit to five with 11 minutes left.
However, Neubauer stayed hot and knocked down another three, followed with a layup to give the Toreros their biggest lead of the night, 65-52.
Needing a late run, Leslie put the Titans on his back as he scored 11-straight points to put Fullerton right back in the game, trailing by five with 27 seconds left.
Unfortunately, San Diego knocked down key free throws down the stretch and Leslie's 21 point second half performance wasn't enough as the Titans fell to the Toreros on the road, 82-75.
Fullerton finished the game with three players in double figures (Coggins, Leslie and Rowe) and saw a nice performance from Awosika off the bench. The true freshman grabbed a career-high nine rebounds, while collecting two assists, two steals, one block and eight points.
The Titans held San Diego to 42 percent shooting on the evening, but the Toreros ability to connect from distance (11-24 from three) and get to the charity stripe (21-28 from the line) proved to be the difference in the contest.
Fullerton will look to get back on the winning track Sunday night at Titan Gym as the Titans battle Southern Utah (2-6, Big Sky 0-0) at 6 p.m. PT. CSUF has won all six meetings between the two schools and won the last game by 14, 80-66.
Follow the Titans!
Fans can keep up with the latest in Titan Athletics by following us on Facebook (Facebook/FullertonTitans), Twitter (@FullertonTitans) Instagram (FullertonTitans) and Snapchat (FullertonTitans). In addition, the men's basketball team has established its own Twitter (@FullertonHoops) and Instagram accounts (FullertonHoops).