CSUN Earns Tough Road Win Over Cal State Fullerton Titans, 85-75

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Northridge, CA – The CSUN Matadors (6-10, 1-1 BWC) defeated the Cal State Fullerton Titans (8-7, 1-1 BWC) on Saturday Night on the road in Titan Gym. The Matadors offset a slow start with a strong second half and held off a Titan comeback to win 85-75.

Junior Kendall Smith led the Matadors in scoring with a career-high 30 points. Junior Aaron Parks, who rejoined the Matadors' active roster for tonight's game, scored 14 and sophomores Micheal Warren and Tavrion Dawson each added 12. Senior Tre Hale-Edmerson scored nine and had 10 rebounds, putting him one board away from moving up another spot on the all-time CSUN rebounds list.

"This is a really good road win for us," said Head Coach Reggie Theus. "The guys showed incredible character and perseverance to come on the road and win this basketball game, and we did it with defense and toughness. I'm really proud of the way they came out tonight."

The Titans outpaced the Matadors to start the game, but by the eight-minute media timeout CSUN had pulled within two points with the score at 18-20. A jumper by Dawson tied the game and then he hit again on a layup to pull the Matadors ahead, 22-20. CSUN maintained the momentum and increased its lead to seven, with the score 31-24 at the halfway mark.

The Matadors stayed up-tempo through the first several minutes of the half and quickly increased their lead to 15 just three minutes in. A highlight dunk by Hale-Edmerson with an assist from Smith then increased the Matadors' lead to 21 six minutes in. CSUN led by as many as 22.

The Matadors stayed on top for the rest of the game, despite a last-minute comeback by the Titans. Cal State Fullerton pulled within seven with 20 seconds to play, but the Matadors held on to win by 10.

CSUN shot 30 free throws in the second half and was 31-for-39 at the line for the game. Smith made 15 of his 18 attempts.

The Matadors scored an incredible 40 points in the paint to the Titans' 10 and scored 18 points off of fast breaks compared to two for Cal State Fullerton. CSUN improved its second half shooting to 58 percent from the 48 percent it shot in the first half. The Titans finished shooting 31 percent.

Guard Tre' Coggins scored 41 points for the Titans and guard Khalil Ahmad added 17. Forward Jamar Akoh had 11 rebounds to lead the team.

Next up for CSUN is a trip up north to play the UC Davis Aggies on Thursday, January 14 at 7:30 p.m. The Matadors return to The Matadome two days later to face UC Riverside.

CSUN Earns Tough Road Win Over Cal State Fullerton Titans, 85-75

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Team Stats

Kendall Smith

Aaron Parks

Micheal Warren

Tavrion Dawson

Players Mentioned

Tavrion Dawson

Tre Hale-Edmerson

Aaron Parks

Kendall Smith

Micheal Warren