Matadors Drop Close Battle to Fullerton

FULLERTON, Calif.---Cal State Fullerton (8-13, 3-3 Big West) edged CSUN Men's Basketball (8-14, 3-3 Big West) 82-75 on Saturday at Titan Gym. Sophomore Lamine Diane scored a game-high 32 points and added 12 rebounds, three blocks, three assists and two steals before fouling out in the final minute. Junior Terrell Gomez tallied 20 points while sophomore Elijah Harkless scored 14 points and grabbed six rebounds.

The Matadors shot 39.7 percent from the field and made 10-of-30 from the 3-point line (33.3 percent). CSUN also converted on 11-of-15 from the free throw line (73.3 percent). The Titans finished with a 37.7 shooting percentage but earned their way to the free throw line with regularity, making 23-of-29 (79.3 percent).

FIRST HALF
The Matadors opened the game quickly with five-straight points before the Titans made five-straight field goals, outscoring CSUN 13-2 to lead by six. Despite hot shooting from the Titans, the Matadors remained close as Harkless drained a 3-pointer to bring the Matadors within 21-18. After a Diane bucket at the 11:42 mark, Brandon Kamga stretched the lead to nine on a 3-pointer seconds later. The Matadors fell behind by double digits following two-straight at the free throw line from Jackson Rowe with 8:22 on the clock.

The lead would swell to 14 points (36-22) before the Matadors made a push in the final minutes of the half. A 7-2 spurt cut the deficit to single digits with four minutes to play. Following a Diane free throw, Brendan Harrick drained a jumper after an offensive rebound by Lance Coleman II. With the lead at six, the Matadors earned a defensive stop leading to a Diane dish to Gomez for a three-pointer in transition. Gomez made two late free throws to close a CSUN 10-3 run, cutting the Fullerton lead to 43-39 at halftime.

SECOND HALF
The Matadors fought back to tie the game at 51-51 with 15:49 left to play after a 3-pointer from Gomez. He would sink another shot from long range moments later to give the Matadors their first lead since the opening moments of the game. Harkless stretched the lead to 56-53 on a runner but Jackson Rowe stroked a 3-pointer to tie the game once more. After a Diane bucket put the Matadors ahead, the Titans answered with a 10-3 run to build a 66-61 lead with 7:45 to play.

Diane would not let the Matadors fall behind further as he scored 11-straight CSUN points, trimming the deficit to a point. After Harkless squared the game at 70-70, Darius Brown II pushed the Matadors ahead on the ensuing possession. Fullerton would fight back as Rowe made two at the free throw line followed by a Kamga layup to put the Titans ahead again. Trailing by three with under two minutes to play, Diane buried a 3-pointer to bring CSUN even at 75-75. The game though was decided seconds later as Diane committed his fifth foul on a Rowe drive to the basket. Rowe would make both free throws. Before the Matadors could inbound the ball, a technical foul was issued to CSUN's bench resulting in two more free throws, which were made by Kamga. The Matadors then came up empty on their next two possessions, sealing the win for Fullerton.

GAME NOTES
Diane's double-double is his 25th in his Matador career, tying him for fifth place in school history with the quartet of Ben Williams (1996-68), Cliff Higgins (1981-84), Brian Heinle (1997-01) and Lenny Daniel (2009-11).

Gomez finished 6-of-12 from 3-point range on Saturday. The school's all-time career 3-point leader with 263 treys, Gomez moved up to seventh place on the Big West's career 3-point list.

For the Titans, Kamga had a team-high 27 points.

ACCORDING TO HEAD COACH MARK GOTTFRIED
"Our guys played hard and they did everything they could. I was proud of them. They battled back, we had a slow start and I don't think that had a lot to do with not being ready. I just think Fullerton played really well early. We got ourselves back into it and we had to overcome foul trouble in a lot of different places. Jared and Festus had foul trouble and Lamine ended up fouling out on a really tough call down here with the score tied and we're ready to get the ball back. Tough way to end it, but I was proud of our guys. They played extremely hard and we have to figure out how to get over the hump and get ready for the next one."

UP NEXT
The Matadors return home Thursday to take on UC Santa Barbara at 8 p.m. The game will air live on ESPNU.

#UniteTheValley

Next Event

Team Stats

Lamine Diane

Terrell Gomez

Elijah Harkless

Darius Brown II

Players Mentioned

Darius Brown II

Lance Coleman II

Lamine Diane

Terrell Gomez

Elijah Harkless

Brendan Harrick