Santa Barbara, Calif. - Cal State Fullerton men's basketball lost at UC Santa Barbara on Thursday night by a score of 55-53. The Titans trailed by eight with 1:45 left in the game and managed to score five points in 12 seconds and then cut the deficit to one with 1:06 left in the game but were unable to close out the comeback. The Titans need a win on Saturday against Long Beach State or a Cal Poly loss at UC Santa Barbara to secure a spot in the Big West Tournament.
The Titans (10-20, 5-10 Big West) led the Gauchos (20-10, 9-6 Big West) 26-25 at halftime and heading into the game Fullerton was 8-1 this season when leading at halftime. However, the Gauchos hit a three at the 19:08 mark of the second half and did not trail the rest of the way. The largest lead was eight, at the aformentioned 1:45 mark.
It was a defensive battle all game as neither team shot the ball well. UCSB went 15-47 (31.9%) from the field and 5-16 (31.3%) from distance but they cashed in at the free-throw line, going 20-25 (80%). The Titans shot 36.2% (21-58) from the floor, 20.8% (5-24) beyond the arc and 46.2% (6-13) at the charity stripe.
The Gauchos were missing senior guard Max Heidegger, the No. 2 scorer in the Big West on the year but were led by Amadou Sow with 18 points and nine rebounds. Matt Freeman also pitched 10 points and 14 rebounds.
For Fullerton, senior guard Austen Awosika played in his 128th game as a Titan, the most in school history. He surpassed Kyle Allman, Jr.'s record set in the 2018-19 season. Awosika tallied 14 points, eight rebounds, two assists and two steals in 35 minutes. Senior guard Brandon Kamga scored a team-high 17 points. Senior forward Jackson Rowe had 13 points, seven rebounds, a team-high four assists, two steals and a blocked shot.
Next up, the Titans host Long Beach State at 7:30 p.m. PT on Saturday in the final home game of the season.
Count the bucket! @JacksonRaw
— Titans Men's Basketball (@FullertonMBB) March 6, 2020
He's got 13p 5r 4a#TusksUp pic.twitter.com/O4NEmeJbdb
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