10-17 (4-10BWC)
Cal State Fullerton
10-17 (3-11BWC)
Cal Poly Falls to Cal State Fullerton 78-77 on Senior Night
2/25/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Guard Reese Morgan led a quartet of Cal Poly seniors scoring at least nine points, tallying 22 in his final home game, but the Mustangs fell 78-77 to Cal State Fullerton in a Big West Conference men's basketball game Thursday night in the Mott Athletics Center.
Morgan made seven of 14 floor shots, including six of 12 from three-point range, for his 18th double-digit scoring game of the season and David Nwaba (pictured above), another senior guard, produced his team-leading 19th double-digit game of the year with 12 points as Cal Poly nearly wiped out a five-point deficit in the final minute of play.
Instead, the Mustangs fell to 4-10 in Big West games, still one game ahead of last-place Cal State Fullerton (3-11) with two games remaining for each team in the regular season. Both teams are 10-17 for the year.
Junior guard Tre Coggins tallied 18 points for the Titans, hitting six of nine field goals. Freshman forward Khalil Ahmad added 16 points and senior guard Malcolm Brooks 15.
The Titans led 76-71 with 57 seconds to play on two free throws by Brooks. Morgan hit a three-pointer with 10 seconds to go and after Coggins made two free throws to give Cal State Fullerton a 78-74 lead with nine seconds left, freshman guard Jaylen Shead nailed a three-pointer with four seconds left, pulling Cal Poly to within one point.
Brooks was called for an offensive foul on the inbounds play, giving Cal Poly one more chance, but senior forward Joel Awich, who scored 10 points, could not connect on a short jumper from the key at the buzzer.
The visiting team won both games in the series this season. Cal Poly was an 83-75 winner in Titan Gym on Jan. 23.
Cal State Fullerton hit 55 percent of its floor shots (29 of 53) and outrebounded Cal Poly 35-31, led by sophomore forward Jamar Akoh with eight and junior forward Tim Myles with seven.
Cal Poly turned the ball over just three times, the second-lowest total in Joe Callero's seven seasons as head coach of the Mustangs, but connected on just 44 percent of its field goal attempts (26 of 59).
Cal Poly won just two of eight conference games at home this season and was 1-7 in seven Big West games decided by four points or fewer.
Nwaba and Shead each had three assists and Morgan contributed three steals for Cal Poly.
In the first half, Cal Poly led by as many as seven points before settling for a 37-35 edge at the break. In the second half, the lead changed hands seven times and the score also was tied seven times. Cal Poly twice led by five points before Cal State Fullerton went on a 12-2 run to build a 74-69 cushion with 1:28 to play and held on for the win.
In addition to Awich, Nwaba and Morgan, forward Brian Bennett played his final game inside the Mott Athletics Center, scoring nine points, and all four were honored in a pregame ceremony.
The Mustangs have a bye Saturday and close out the regular season on the road next week with games Thursday at UC Irvine (8:30 p.m., ESPN3) and Saturday at UC Santa Barbara (4 p.m.).
Photo above of David Nwaba courtesy of Alexander Bohlen
