LAS VEGAS — The Cal State Fullerton men's basketball team fell 67-60 to Southern Utah Saturday night at Michelob ULTRA Arena in the opening game of the Jack Jones Hoopfest.
Latrell Wrightsell Jr. poured in a game-high 20 points on 7-of-15 shooting for the Titans, including 4-of-8 from deep, to go with five rebounds. Max Jones added 14 points, a team-high six rebounds and two steals, while Vincent Lee contributed nine points and three boards. Daeshawn Eaton also had a Fullerton-career-high nine points on the night.
The Titans led 44-41 with 11:55 to go in the second half but could not quite hold off the Thunderbirds, who took a 47-46 lead with 9:35 left and never again gave it up. A Lee dunk with 3:11 left brought Fullerton within one, 56-55, but SUU finished the game on an 11-5 run to take the win. The loss moves the Titans to 4-6 on the season.
The Thunderbirds jumped out to a 9-0 lead to start the game before a Jones layup and stepback three from Wrightsell Jr. cut the Titans' deficit to six, 11-5. Fullerton continued to chip away at SUU's lead, as Eaton and San Antonio hit jumpers and Jones got a three-pointer to fall, bringing the score to 14-12 for SUU.
Eaton later hit a fast-break trey from the left wing and Wrightsell Jr. nailed another off an offensive rebound and assist from San Antonio to give Fullerton its first lead of the game, 23-22, with 3:39 left in the half. Teams traded free throws for the remainder of the half as SUU took a 28-27 lead into the locker room.
That's pretty ��#DevelopU | #TusksUp pic.twitter.com/GcEb9GFOq2
— Titans Men's Basketball (@FullertonMBB) December 11, 2022
Jones completed a three-point play before hitting a reverse layup and Wrightsell Jr. hit a jumper to give the Titans a 37-36 advantage five minutes into the second half. Wrightsell Jr. drained a corner triple off an assist from Jalen Harris then got an acrobatic driving layup to fall as Fullerton took a 44-41 lead with 11:55 left.
Trelly things �� @LJWrightsell
— Titans Men's Basketball (@FullertonMBB) December 11, 2022
He's up to 1⃣7⃣#DevelopU | #TusksUp pic.twitter.com/UePvLkkQiS
SUU responded with a 5-0 run to go up 45-44, but Jones found Lee for a jumper to put the Titans back on top. The Thunderbirds scored the next five, though, to go up 50-46. Fullerton hung around, as another three-pointer from Wrightsell Jr. brought the Titans within two, 55-53, with 3:53 left. Harris hit Lee for a layup to then cut Fullerton's deficit to one, 56-55, with 3:11 to go.
The Thunderbirds scored seven of the next eight points to take a 63-57 lead, before Harris hit a three from the corner to keep the Titans in it, 63-60, with 38 seconds left. But SUU scored a layup on the following possession to ice the game, going on to win 67-60.
The Titans return home to take on San Diego Christian on Monday, December 19th, at Titan Gym. Tip-off is slated for 7:00 p.m. PT.
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