Matadors Fall at Cal State Fullerton, 79-64

FULLERTON, Calif.---Four Matadors scored in double figures but it would not be enough as CSUN (5-9, 1-1 Big West) dropped a 79-64 decision to Cal State Fullerton on Thursday at Titan Gym. Miles James scored a career-high 14 points to go with six rebounds while Onyi Eyisi added 13 points and four rebounds. Atin Wright finished with 11 points and Elijah Hardy chipped in with 10 points. A total of 69 of Fullerton's 79 points were scored at the foul line or in the paint on Thursday as the Titans pulled away in the closing minutes.

CSUN shot 39.3 percent for the game while Cal State Fullerton finished with a 45.9 shooting percentage. Neither side excelled from 3-point range as the Matadors went 1-for-12 and the Titans made 2-of-15. Fullerton earned 29 free throw attempts in the game, making 21 for a 72.4 percentage compared to the Matadors who went 15-of-21 (71.4 percent). CSUN narrowly out-rebounded Fullerton 39-37 but the Titans held a 48-34 edge in points in the paint.

GAME BREAKDOWN
The Titans opened up the game by scoring the first five points but the Matadors answered by going on a 10-0 run to go in front. CSUN's lead though was short-lived as the Titans, led by top scorer E.J. Anosike, went on a 9-0 run to stake to a 16-11 advantage. Anosike scored 14 points in the opening stanza on the 6-of-9 shooting to help keep the Titans in front while the Matadors were led by James who netted 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting. Fullerton stretched its lead to as big as 10 points (27-17) after a 3-pointer from Dante Maddox Jr. with 8:33 left on the clock.

CSUN would fight its way back with a 6-0 run with Wright scoring four of those points. Marcel Stevens gave the Matadors a spark off the bench as well in the opening stanza including a steal and basket with six minutes to play to cut the Titan lead to 29-25. The Matadors pulled to within four points on six different occasions down the stretch of the half but could not pull closer. Vincent Lee made a free throw with nine seconds on the clock to push the Titan lead to 40-35 at halftime.

The Matadors came out strong to start the second half, going on an 8-2 run, capped by back-to-back baskets from Hardy to take a 43-42 lead with 15:45 left on the clock. The Titans responded with four-straight points before Brendan Harrick pulled CSUN to within one on a basket in the lane. However, CSUN would go without points for three consecutive possessions, giving the Titans an opportunity to take advantage. Anosike scored five of seven consecutive Fullerton points to quickly push the lead to eight. Moments later, Latrell Wrightsell Jr. scored five-straight points of his own including a three-point play as the Fullerton lead stretched back to double digits.

Falling behind by 12 points on an Anosike layup, the Matadors trimmed the deficit to nine on an Eyisi three-point play. A comeback though was not in the cards for the Matadors as they never cut the lead closer than nine points over the final minutes of the contest. An 8-2 Fullerton spurt, which was capped by an Anosike dunk, sealed a Titan win as the home team led by as many as 16 points in the closing moments.

GAME NOTES
Hardy added four rebounds, two assists and three steals to his stat line. Harrick finished with eight points and eight rebounds while Stevens posted a new career-high of five points. Arman Pezeshkian made his collegiate debut in the final minute of the game and had a steal.

For Fullerton, Anosike had a game-high 33 points to go with nine rebounds while Dante Maddox Jr. had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

ACCORDING TO COACH TRENT JOHNSON
'We weren't strong enough tonight and not nearly physical enough. The rebound differential is probably skewed a little bit but they dominated us in the lane. We just have to do a better job of understanding when to take good shots. It's disappointing. There were some bright spots, I thought Marcel came in and did a good job. It was nice to see Miles James shoot the ball like he is capable of shooting the basketball. We were right there and all we had to do was take care of it in crucial times, rebound at crucial times and defend at crucial times."

UP NEXT
CSUN returns to the court on Saturday for a road test at Long Beach State. Tip-off is slated for 4 p.m. on ESPN+. Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister have the call at GoMatadors.com/radio starting at 3:50 p.m.

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Team Stats

Miles James

Onyi Eyisi

Atin Wright

Elijah Hardy

Players Mentioned

Onyi Eyisi

Elijah Hardy

Brendan Harrick

Miles James

Arman Pezeshkian

Marcel Stevens

Atin Wright