FULLERTON, Calif. --- Cal State Fullerton recorded its first ever Big West Conference win over Hawai'i since it joined the conference in 2012-13 by a score of 67-64, Thursday night at Titan Gym.
"I think it's a huge win just because of the confidence factor," said Cal State Fullerton head coach Dedrique Taylor. "We played and earned the win tonight. We didn't make it pretty, but we earned the win tonight."
Lionheart Leslie led the Titans (7-7, 1-0) in scoring with 14 points and Davon Clare recorded his fourth straight double-digit rebounding effort against the Rainbow Warriors (6-8, 0-1), pulling down a game-high 10 boards.
Fullerton also held the Rainbow Warriors to just 34.4 percent shooting from the field and 19 percent (4-of-21) from beyond the arc.
"I thought our team understood the preparation and what was important in terms of being able to defend," said Cal State Fullerton head coach Dedrique Taylor. "You can score by accident but you've got to work your behind off to defend and I thought the numbers tonight indicated where our team's focus was; where their energy was."
The Titans led 65-53 with 2:54 remaining but the Rainbow Warriors put together a 7-0 run to cut the deficit back to single digits with 1:17 left. Tre' Coggins then drilled a pair of free throws for Fullerton's last points of the game with 1:09 left but Hawai'i got a layup from Gibson Johnson and a jumper by Brocke Stepteau with 44 seconds left to cut the Titans lead to a single possession. After Coggins missed a jumper in traffic, Leland Green grabbed the rebound with 13 seconds left and dribbled to the wing where he took a contested, off-balance one-handed 3-pointer that sailed wide left of the rim and the ball hit the floor as the buzzer sounded to seal the win for Fullerton.
Leslie helped lay the groundwork for the Titans lead in the first half as Coggins got into early foul trouble and Fullerton's leading scorer sat for the final 16:38 of the period. Luckily, the Titans second leading scorer took over as he scored 11 of his 14 points in the first half, going 4-for-7 from the field including sinking his only 3-point attempt of the half along with making both of his free throws.
Freshman Jackson Rowe's double-double streak came to an end but he still finished with 10 points and seven rebounds in 30 minutes of action while Kyle Allman sparked a 26-point bench effort with 11 points on 3-for-7 shooting and a 5-for-5 night at the free throw line. He also threw down a monstrous one-handed dunk in the first half that gave Fullerton a 23-21 lead with 7:11 left after they had trailed for more most of the period.
NOTES: Fullerton is now officially 3-7 against Hawai'i all time. The Rainbow Warriors had won 10 straight meetings but vacated four wins in the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons. The Titans last win against the Rainbow Warriors came on Nov. 16, 2008 in Honolulu. Thursday night's win is also the Titans first ever victory over Hawai'i in Fullerton… Austen Awosika tied his career high with three steals on Thursday night… The Titans bench outscored the Rainbow Warriors reserves 26-11 and have now outscored opposing benches 379-277… Fullerton outrebounded Hawai'i 41-37 on the night, the sixth straight game the Titans have beaten their opponents on the boards… Fullerton pulled down 11 more offensive rebounds on Thursday, the fourth straight game with double digits on the offensive glass… Fullerton outscored Hawai'i 42-28 in the paint, the ninth straight time they've had the edge in that category and 12th time in 14 games.
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