FULLERTON, Calif. — Cal State Fullerton men's basketball pulled away late to defeat Sacramento State 59-49 Wednesday night at Titan Gym in its final nonconference game. The win improves the Titans' record to 6-6 on the season.
"I thought these guys played gritty, tough basketball," said Cal State Fullerton head coach Dedrique Taylor. "I thought we had a great deal of confidence from an offensive standpoint that stemmed from our defense. Guys were sharing the basketball and moving it around."
Jalen Harris paced Fullerton with a game-high 19 points to go with four assists and a steal. Garrison Wade poured in a season-high 13 points, going 3-of-4 from distance, while Max Jones had 12 points, five boards and two steals. Vincent Lee contributed seven points and five rebounds and Tory San Antonio added six points and four boards.
Teams traded baskets early, as Jones drained a triple off an acrobatic offensive rebound save by Lathaniel Bastian and Harris found Lee for a dunk to tie things up at 10.
That @jalenh2 ➡️ @vincemikelee pick and roll ��#DevelopU | #TusksUp pic.twitter.com/Dqd0j9uF09
— Titans Men's Basketball (@FullertonMBB) December 22, 2022
Wade nailed a three-pointer to put the Titans up 16-12 before a 15-5 Hornet run gave Sacramento State a 27-21 advantage. San Antonio drilled a contested triple from the right wing just before the first half buzzer to bring the Titans within three, 27-24, at the break.
The Hornets added to their advantage five minutes into the half, taking a 34-28 lead. But Fullerton kept things close, as another Wade three-pointer and a put-back lay-in from Grayson Carper tied the game at 37-all. A left-wing triple from Harris capped a 9-0 Titan run to give Fullerton a 42-37 lead with 9:40 to go.
Big shot J ��@jalenh2
— Titans Men's Basketball (@FullertonMBB) December 22, 2022
Titans are on a 9-0 run.#DevelopU | #TusksUp pic.twitter.com/95qtviTBnj
Fullerton added to its lead with a San Antonio jumper and a floater from Harris. A pair of free throws from Wade and another from San Antonio gave the Titans their largest lead of the contest to that point, 53-41, with 2:29 left. Fullerton finished the game strong, as a flurry of free throws from Jones and Harris and a Jones layup sealed the 59-49 win for the Titans.
The Titans remain home to open conference play on Thursday, December 29th, against UC Santa Barbara on ESPNU. Tip-off is slated for 6:00 p.m. PT.
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Titans fans can now watch every home event exclusively on ESPN+. Cal State Fullerton has built a top-tier production studio to give the viewers an ESPN quality production for all games at Titan Stadium. Additionally, all schools in the Big West Conference are committed to producing ESPN quality streams which will allow fans to watch the Titans on ESPN+ for all road conference games.
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