Game 13
Cal State Fullerton vs. Bethesda
Friday, Dec. 30 | 7 p.m.
Fullerton, Calif. | Titan Gym
Live Stream: BigWest.TV
Live Stats: FullertonTitans.com
Live Audio: FullertonTitans.com
FULLERTON, Calif. --- Cal State Fullerton wraps up the 2016 calendar year Friday night when the Titans host Bethesda at Titan Gym. It will be Fullerton's final non-conference game of the 2016-17 regular season before the Titans open up Big West play against Hawai'i (Jan. 5) and CSUN (Jan. 7) at home.
Cal State Fullerton students receive free admission to Titan home games with their Titan I.D. card.
PARKING FOR HOME GAMES
Parking for games played Mon-Thurs. is $8. Permit machines located in lots A, D, G, S and on the ground level of the parking structures accept Discover, MasterCard, and Visa, only. The machines located in surface lots accept $1 & $5 bills only. Parking can also be purchased online by visiting the Cal State Fullerton Parking and Transportation website. Daily permits are valid in student lots and parking structures, unless restricted. After 4pm daily permits are valid in College Park Faculty/Staff. After 6pm daily permits are valid in Lots A Faculty/Staff, E Faculty/Staff, C-West, and C-East. Parking for Fullerton games played on weekends (Fri.-Sun) is free after 5 p.m. Friday through the weekend. Please plan accordingly when attending an athletic event at Cal State Fullerton.
OPPONENTS & HISTORY
Bethesda | 7:00 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 30 | Titan Gym
The Titans host the Bethesda Flames of the National Christian College Athletic Association. Bethesda plays in the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference for men's basketball. Friday's game counts as an exhibition for Bethesda while it counts towards Fullerton's 2016-17 non-conference slate. The Flames have already faced CSU Bakersfield, CSUN, Cal Poly and San Diego in exhibitions this season and Friday's game will be their last exhibition before they enter conference play.
Head-To-Head:
The Titans and Flames have never played in the course of the regular season. Fullerton did face Bethesda in an exhibition prior to the start of the 2015-16 season.
Last Meeting:
The Titans had five players score in double figures en route to a 106-66 victory over the Flames in an exhibition on Nov. 6, 2015. Tre' Coggins led the way with 18 points while Kyle Allman added 14 and Khalil Ahmad scored 13 in the win. The Titans jumped out to a 10-0 run to start the game and led by 30 by halftime.
LAST TIME OUT - CAL STATE FULLERTON 77, PORTLAND 72 (OT)
Senior Tre' Coggins scored 21 of his 24 points in the final 25 minutes of play and sophomore Khalil Ahmad added 21 in his first action of the season to help lead Cal State Fullerton to a 77-72 comeback win over Portland in overtime Thursday night at Titan Gym.
Trailing by 10 with 4:02 left and eight points with 2:09 remaining in the game, the Titans rode Coggins and Ahmad to force overtime as the guards combined to score 13 points as the Titans(5-7) outscored the Pilots (7-5) 14-7 in the last 2:09 of regulation. Coggins dropped 11 points in that stretch, going 3-for-3 from beyond the arc and 2-of-3 from the line to lead the charge while Ahmad hit the game-tying layup with seven seconds left to send the game into the extra period.
In overtime, the Titans outscored Portland 10-5 with Coggins adding five more points including a trey that gave Fullerton a commanding 74-68 lead with 2:45 left and the Titans never looked back.
ONE-MAN SHOW
Sophomore Khalil Ahmad made his first appearance of the season on Dec. 22 in the win over Portland and made an immediate impression. Ahmad drained five straight 3-pointers after he checked into the game for the first time and also hit the game-tying layup with seven seconds left in regulation. Ahmad also led the team with four assists.
DEARRING DEBUTS
Riley Dearring made his Cal State Fullerton debut against Portland on Dec. 22 after sitting out the first 11 games of the season due to transfer rules. He played six minutes and scored two points on 1-for-4 shooting in his first action as a Titan.
EVERYONE NEEDS A SECOND CHANCE
Cal State Fullerton has been hammering the offensive glass in its last two games. The Titans grabbed 23 offensive rebounds en route to 20 second chance points in the win over Portland on Dec. 22. That output came after Fullerton grabbed 17 offensive boards in an overtime loss at Omaha on Dec. 18. The Titans have grabbed 115 offensive boards this season while allowing 107 to the opposition but have posted a 48-27 over the last three games on the offensive glass.
ROWE AND CLARE CRASHING THE BOARDS
Jackson Rowe notched his first career double-double and set a new Fullerton season high with 13 rebounds in the Titans win over Portland. Davon Clare added 10 rebounds, his third double-digit rebounding game of the season and second straight. The two became the first Titans duo to grab double-digit boards in a game since March 3, 2012 when Omonde Amoke and Orane Chin grabbed 13 and 10 boards respectively against Long Beach State. Rowe and Clare combined to grab 23 of the Titans 52 rebounds against Portland, which was tied for the third most rebounds by a Titans team in a game in recorded history.
20/20 VISION
Tre' Coggins and Khalil Ahmad each recorded 20-point games in the Titans win over Portland, the second time the Titans have had two or more 20-point scorers in one game. Coggins and Kyle Allman each recorded 20-plus in a 106-100 double overtime win over Portland State on Nov. 13.
LONG DISTANCE CONNECTION
The Titans drained 14 3-pointers on Dec. 22 against Portland, a new season high. It was the second time Fullerton recorded double-digit makes from beyond the arc this season; the last coming on Nov. 13 against Portland State when the Titans hit a dozen threes. The 14 3-pointers are also tied for the second most in a game in Titans recorded history. Fullerton recorded 17 3-pointers against UC Santa Barbara on Feb. 4, 2012.
WORKING OVERTIME
The Titans have played two straight overtime games and four overall this season. They are 2-2 in those games with both wins coming at home. While the Titans won a double overtime game against Porltand State, the win over Portland marked Fullerton's first win in a single-OT game since Jan. 8, 2011 when the Titans defeated UC Riverside, 83-77, on the road. Under head coach Dedrique Taylor, the Titans are currently 2-7 in games that go into overtime. The four overtime games this year mark the most overtime games in a season in Taylor's tenure and this season marks the second time a Fullerton team has played multiple overtime games in a season under Taylor. The Titans played three overtime games during the 2014-15 campaign.
ON DECK FOR THE TITANS
The Titans will open Big West Conference action on Jan. 5 when Hawai'i comes to Fullerton. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3.
SUPPORT THE TITANS!
Fans can purchase tickets for various Cal State Fullerton athletic events by visiting FullertonTitans.com/Tickets. The Athletic Ticket Office can also be contacted by phone at 657-278-2783 or by email at athletictixs@fullerton.edu. The Ticket Office is located at the Titan House off of Gymnasium Drive at the eastern end of the Intramural Fields and is open from 10 am – 4 pm PT, Monday – Friday.
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