Cal State Fullerton can’t reel in hot-shooting UC San Diego – Whittier Daily News

The Cal State Fullerton men’s basketball team fell short in its bid to finish the regular season with a .500 record, staging a late comeback before dropping the opener of its two-game series against UC San Diego on Friday evening, 89-85, at UCSD’s RIMAC Arena.

Junior guard Tray Maddox Jr. had 21 points on 7-for-15 shooting and four other Titans scored in double figures. Senior forward Josh Hall added 16 points and 11 rebounds, Dante Maddox Jr. had 15 points, sophomore forward Doctor Bradley had 14 points and eight rebounds off the bench and sophomore guard Tory San Antonio had 12 points and a career-high 12 rebounds.

Gabe Hadley had 21 points to pace UCSD, which got 19 points apiece from Hugh Baxter and Jake Killingsworth (nine rebounds). Jace Roquemore had 10 points, while Mikey Howell had five points and 14 assists.

The Tritons (6-10 overall), who used just seven players, outscored Fullerton (6-8 overall) by 27 points from 3-point range, going 16 for 33 (48.5%) to the Titans’ 7-for-20 mark from beyond the arc. Killingsworth finished 6 for 10 from long range, while Hadley was 4 for 10 and Baxter was 3 for 4.

Fullerton trailed by 10 with 2:31 left but whittled the margin to three points with 33 seconds left, but UCSD made one free throw and got the necessary stop to secure the win.

The Titans had a 45-28 rebounding advantage (15 offensive) but turned it over 17 times (13 UCSD steals). Fullerton made up some ground by going 16 for 21 at the free-throw line, while UCSD was just 5 for 16 at the stripe.

UCSD led by as many as 13, though Fullerton did have a 43-41 lead at halftime.

The teams square off again Saturday at 5 p.m. in the regular-season finale. The nonconference series does not count in the Big West standings, and UCSD won’t be part of the 10-team conference tournament next week in Las Vegas.

While only the top (UC Santa Barbara) and bottom seeds (Cal Poly) are clinched for the tournament, Fullerton is certain to be playing in one of Tuesday’s first-round games, which pit the No. 7 seed vs. the No. 10 and the No. 8 seed vs. the No. 9. The Titans can finish no higher than seventh.