SANTA BARBARA — At risk of tumbling further down the Big West Conference standings, the Cal State Fullerton men’s basketball team came up with a clutch road win.
Max Jones scored 22 points and DJ Brewton had 20 as Fullerton held off UC Santa Barbara down the stretch for a 73-69 victory on Saturday afternoon at the Thunderdome.
Jones shot 4 for 6 from 3-point range to go with five assists, hitting a pair of timely long balls during the final minutes as the Titans (9-10 overall, 2-5 Big West) survived seeing their 15-point second-half lead whittled to two. Brewton added six rebounds to his point total, while Grayson Carper scored most of his 14 points from behind the arc (4 for 8). Beril Kabamba added nine points, a season-high 10 rebounds and four assists.
Cole Anderson paced UCSB (11-7, 4-4) with 19 points. Ajay Mitchell added 18 points and six assists, and Yohan Traore had 15 points and 13 rebounds.
The Gauchos trimmed Fullerton’s 15-point advantage to 60-57 with 5:38 left after a Mitchell jumper, but Jones answered on the ensuing possession with his third 3-pointer of the night. UCSB then hit a 3-pointer of its own before Jones hit another from the right wing while being fouled, pushing Fullerton’s lead to 67-60 with 4:31 left.
UCSB would not go away, though, and Mitchell completed a three-point play with 38 seconds left to cut the Titans’ lead to 68-66. Brewton hit three free throws and Jones added a pair down the stretch and the Fullerton defense came up with a series of stops over the final possessions, including John Mikey Square drawing a charge with 10 seconds left, to preserve the win.
UCSB jumped out to a 17-13 lead early in the contest before Fullerton stormed back, with a Brewton jumper and Carper triple giving the Titans a 22-19 lead. Carper hit another 3-pointer before Jones added a pair to push Fullerton’s lead to 31-24. Carper drained one more deep shot before halftime as the Titans took a 38-28 lead to the locker room.
Brewton came out hot to start the second half, scoring seven early points to help Fullerton open a 45-30 lead. The Titans still led by nine with less than nine minutes left, but UCSB kept cutting into the margin to set up the tense final minute.
The Titans shot 47.9% from the field, tied their season high with nine 3-point baskets and made their final five free-throw attempts. The Fullerton reserves outscored the UCSB bench players 25-11.
UP NEXT
Fullerton plays at Cal Poly (SLO) on Thursday at 7 p.m.
