Matadors Drop Regular Season Finale to Fullerton, 86-78

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NORTHRIDGE, CA---

Trailing by as many as 17 points, CSUN Men's Basketball's comeback bid fell short in a 86-78 loss to Cal State Fullerton in both teams' regular season finale on Saturday evening at The Matadome. Kendall Smith scored a team-high 24 points while senior guard Aaron Parks finished with 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting in his final home game of his career. Off the bench, Micheal Warren tallied 15 points, six rebounds and three steals.

The Matadors conclude the regular season with an 11-18 record and a 7-9 mark in Big West Conference play. CSUN secured the sixth seed in next week's Big West Conference Tournament and will face No. 3 seed Cal State Fullerton once more in the quarterfinals on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. at the Honda Center in Anaheim.

"The crazy thing is that part of the season is over," said head coach Reggie Theus. "This is the the third phase of the season. The beginning of the season, the end of the season and now the conference tournament. No matter who you are, no matter what you've done this season, it doesn't matter any more. The only thing that matters is the next few games."

Playing in front of his family and friends, Parks got the Matadors started quickly with a pair of jumpers in the opening minute. Moments later, Tavrion Dawson converted on a layup to put CSUN in front 8-5.

Fullerton would right the ship and put together a 14-2 run to take a 19-10 lead at the 12:54 mark of the first half. The Matadors battled back with an 11-2 run of their own after falling behind by 12 but the Titans answered with an 18-4 spurt to extend to a 43-26 advantage.

Scoring a game-high 28 points, Kyle Allman played an exceptional first half for the Titans as he finished perfect from the floor. Shooting 6-of-6 from the field, Allman also went 1-of-1 from 3-point land and 4-of-4 from the free throw line.

Facing a Fullerton team that shot 60.7 percent from the field in the first half, the Matadors chipped away at the deficit in the final minutes. A 7-3 run capped off by a late layup from Smith cut the lead to single digits at 45-36 at intermission.

In the second half, the Titans regained momentum and pushed the lead to 57-42 with 13:08 left to play.

The Matadors would show little quit, however, as they clawed back into the game down the stretch. Holding the Titans to a pair of field goals over a seven-minute span, the Matadors orchestrated a 14-5 run to pull to within 62-56.

Later in the half, Parks completed an old-fashion 3-point play that made it 65-61 with 4:26 on the clock. Fullerton would pull ahead by eight at 71-63 but the Matadors again roared back with jumpers from Parks and Warren to again to pull to within four.

Ahead 71-67 with 1:50 left to go, the Titans would not let the Matadors get any closer for the remainder of the night. Knocking down 13 free throws down the stretch, Fullerton held off CSUN for the win in the regular season finale.

With his efforts, Parks moved ahead of Pat Bolden for 15th place on the Matadors' all-time scoring list with 1,090 points. Registering 10 points and 12 rebounds, Dawson recorded his sixth double-double of the season as well as his fifth in conference play.

The Matadors now turn their attention to next Thursday's Big West Conference quarterfinal game against the Titans. CSUN has not faced the Titans in the tournament since earning a 75-54 win six seasons ago.

Matadors Drop Regular Season Finale to Fullerton, 86-78

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Team Stats

Kendall Smith

Aaron Parks

Micheal Warren

Tavrion Dawson

Players Mentioned

Tavrion Dawson

Aaron Parks

Kendall Smith

Micheal Warren