FULLERTON, Calif. - Cal State Fullerton men's basketball snapped a six-game losing streak to UC Irvine on Saturday night with a 67-64 win in Titan Gym. The comeback victory marked head coach Dedrique Taylor's 100th win as a head coach. He is the fourth head coach in program history to reach 100-win mark.
The Titans (6-7, 5-7 Big West) trailed 30-29 at the half and 44-33 at the 15:28 mark in the second half, UC Irvine's (12-8, 8-4 Big West) largest lead of the game. But Fullerton came storming back and unlike Friday night, they had the energy to hang on for the win. Fullerton took a 50-48 lead with 10:31 left in the game did not relinquish that lead.
After senior forward Johnny Wang's two free throws with 12 seconds left, the Titans held a three-point lead. After a UC Irvine timeout, the Anteaters got up two three-point attempts but neither dropped and the Titans secured the 67-64 win.
For Fullerton, it was a balanced scoring effort as junior guard Tray Maddox Jr. led the team with 15 points while hauling in six rebounds. He also drew a game-high nine fouls. Freshman guard Dante Maddox Jr. scored 12 points with two assists and two steals. Off the bench, Wang pitched in 10 points (2-4 3FGA) and four rebounds along with sophomore forward Doctor Bradley's 14 points and four rebounds. Senior forward Josh Hall tallied eight points, 11 rebounds, three steals and three blocks in 35 minutes of action.
Neither team shot particularly well but the Titans found a way to grind out a win shooting 23-64 (35.9%) from the field, 5-15 (33.3%) from distance and 16-20 (80%) at the line. For the Anteaters, they shot 24-63 (38.1%), 3-14 (21.4%) beyond the arc and 13-16 (81.3%) at the charity stripe. UCI won the rebounding battle 46-38 but had 13 turnovers to just eight for the Titans. Also, both teams scored 32 points in the paint.
.@CSFCoachTaylor on the #csufhomecoming win over UC Irvine. #TusksUp pic.twitter.com/ED7GOPu0Yg
— Titans Men's Basketball (@FullertonMBB) February 21, 2021
Congrats to @CSFCoachTaylor on win �� as a head coach! He is the fourth head coach in @FullertonMBB to reach that mark.
— Titans Athletics (@FullertonTitans) February 21, 2021
What a #CSUFHomecoming win over UC Irvine!#TusksUp
