RIVERSIDE, Calif. --- Lionheart Leslie carried the Cal State Fullerton offense in the second half and Kyle Allman hit the game-winning layup with 17 seconds left to lift the Titans to a 56-55 victory over UC Riverside Thursday night at SRC Arena in Riverside, Calif.
Leslie scored 12 of his game-high 13 points in the second half and was the only Titans (12-12, 6-5) player to hit multiple field goals in the last 20 minutes. Allman saved his only basket of the second half for the most important moment, knifing his way into the lane and beating the Highlanders (7-16, 5-7) defense for a layup with 17 seconds left to put the Titans up one.
Fullerton had to dodge one more bullet as Secean Johnson got a wide-open look at a 3-pointer but it went long and clanged off the back iron to help the Titans escape with the victory.
Allman finished the game with 11 points and a team-high four assists. The Titans have now won four out of five games and are above .500 in conference play for the first time since Jan. 12 when they beat Cal Poly to go 2-1 in conference.
Jackson Rowe tied his career high with 16 rebounds to go along with eight points and one block while Khalil Ahmad added 10 points. Menno Dijkstra led the Highlanders with 17 points on 8-for-10 shooting.
Fullerton took an eight-point lead into the locker room, the 14th time this season they have led at halftime and fifth time in Big West play. Rowe flirted with a double-double in the first half with seven points and nine rebounds while Ahmad also scored seven points to go with two steals.
The teams started sloppily as each squad mustered only 13 points through the first 12:40 of the half. But the Titans gained some separation thanks to a 6-0 scoring run and would lead by as much as 10 in the final 7:20 of the half.
The Titans came out of the break with two straight buckets to balloon their lead to 12 with 18:13 left, but that is when the train came off the tracks for the Fullerton offense and the Highlanders capitalized. The Titans shot just 7-for-30 in the second half while the Highlanders mounted a 13-0 run to take a 35-34 lead. After the Titans retook the lead at 38-35, the Highlanders again answered with a 9-0 run to build their biggest lead of the game at 44-38. Not to be outdone, the Titans responded with a 9-0 run of their own to go up three, 47-44, with 5:56 left in the game.
It was a back-and-forth affair from there as the teams were tied three times and traded the lead four times, capped off by Allman's driving layup to give Fullerton the lead for good.
The Titans are now just two games back of first place as UC Davis fell to Long Beach State in overtime on Thursday night, dropping them into a tie for the top spot with UC Irvine at 8-3. Fullerton welcomes the Aggies to Titan Gym on Saturday night with the game set to be broadcast on Fox Sports Prim Ticket. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
NOTES: UC Davis outscored the Titans 32-20 in the paint on Thursday night, marking just the fourth time this season the Titans have been outscored in that category and first time since Jan. 18 at UC Irvine… The Titans forced 21 Highlanders turnovers and scored 17 points off the miscues… Thursday night marked the 50th meeting between the two teams and the Titans now hold a 29-21 edge all-time against the Highlanders… Fullerton and UC Riverside have now split the season series two straight years with each team winning on the other's home floor in that span.
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