Matadors Fall to Cal State Fullerton in Big West Quarterfinal

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ANAHEIM, CA---

After leading at halftime, CSUN Men's Basketball (11-19) could not overcome a slow start to the second half in its Big West Tournament opening round loss to Cal State Fullerton, 81-68, at the Honda Center. Kendall Smith led the way for the Matadors with 21 points and seven assists while Tavrion Dawson finished with 14 points and five rebounds. Senior guard Aaron Parks concluded his Matadors career with 10 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals.

"In the first half, we did everything that game plan wise we were supposed to do," said head coach Reggie Theus. "We were out-rebounding them. Tavrion Dawson played really well. I thought our energy was real high. At the end of the first half, I thought we had a breakdown defensively and I felt like it took the momentum from us a little bit. We come out in the second half and I thought our defensive energy wasn't where it was in the first half."

In a tale of two halves for CSUN, the Matadors held a six-point lead at intermission after shooting 54.8 percent from the field in the first period. Following intermission, CSUN struggled from the field and shot just 37.0 percent. In contrast, the Titans maintained hot shooting throughout, posting 50.0 percent shooting in the opening half followed by a 60.0 percentage after halftime. The Matadors also out-rebounded the Titans in the opening half, 16-12, but lost the margin, 18-11, after intermission.

The Matadors got off to a quick start in the early going as Parks knocked down a pair of jumpers to give CSUN an 8-4 lead at the first media timeout.

Fullerton would fight back with an 11-4 run to stake to its biggest lead of the period at 22-16 at the 9:44 mark. Tre' Coggins scored 11 of his 24 points in the first period to pace the Titans while Lionheart Leslie chipped in with nine points.

Trailing by six, the Matadors surged back, and behind balanced scoring reclaimed the lead. Smith knocked down a 3-pointer to cut the deficit in half followed by a Dawson jumper moments later put CSUN in front. The Matadors would not be done as five straight converted shots including a slam dunk from Darin Johnson in transition capped off a 17-4 run to extend the lead to 33-26.

The Matadors took a 41-35 lead with less than 10 seconds remaining on a driving layup from Micheal Warren but the Titans would get to the free throw line on the next possession down the floor. Kyle Allman knocked down both free throws to trim the Matador lead to 41-37 at the break.

After intermission, the Titans engineered a a 9-2 run to take a 46-43 lead at the 17:17 mark of the period. Smith nailed a jumper on the ensuing possession, but the Matadors would go cold from the field for a key six-minute stretch, which turned the tide of the contest.

Committing five turnovers and missing all five shots over a 5:56 span, the Matadors dug a 59-45 hole as Fullerton completed a 20-2 run.

The Matadors would keep fighting down the stretch, however, trimming the Titan lead to single digits following a 7-2 run and an old-fashion 3-point play by Dawson. Moments later, Warren hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 68-60 with 6:44 left to play. CSUN forced a Fullerton turnover on the ensuing possession, but Johnson missed a driving runner that would have cut the lead to six.

Fullerton regained control in the final minutes, eventually building its lead to as high as 15 points to claim the opening round contest. Providing plenty of scoring, the trio of Allman (24), Leslie (24) and Coggins (21) combined to score 69 of their team's 81 points.

Earning the start in the tournament game, Warren scored seven points and grabbed five rebounds while Johnson scored six points. Off the bench, Dylan Johns hit 3-of-4 shots from the field and finished with six points.

Despite ending the season on a six-game skid, the Matadors improved their win total from last season and also tied the 2013-14 team for the most wins (7) in conference play in six seasons.

Matadors Fall to Cal State Fullerton in Big West Quarterfinal

Team Stats

Kendall Smith

Tavrion Dawson

Aaron Parks

Micheal Warren

Players Mentioned

Tavrion Dawson

Dylan Johns

Darin Johnson

Aaron Parks

Kendall Smith

Micheal Warren