Wyoming
Cal State Fullerton’s comeback bid falls short against Wyoming
FULLERTON — The Cal State Fullerton men’s basketball team erased most of a 19-point second half deficit but could not complete the comeback in a 73-69 loss to Wyoming on Sunday afternoon at Titan Gym.
Fullerton (4-9 overall, 0-2 Big West) trailed 50-31 early in the second half before going on a 16-4 run to get back into the game. The Titans held Wyoming (7-5) without a field goal for nearly eight minutes during that stretch, and Zion Richardson capped the run with a 3-pointer to get Fullerton within eight points with 10:33 left.
The Titans chipped away from there.
A Richardson 3-pointer cut the visitors’ lead to 69-63 with 1:55 remaining, then followed a Wyoming 3-point miss with a layup to cut the margin to four with 1:16 left. After another Wyoming miss from behind the arc, Fullerton cut the margin to two points on a pair of Donovan Oday free throws with 37 seconds left.
Wyoming’s Obi Agbim was fouled driving to the rim and made a pair of free throws with 10 seconds left for a 71-67 lead, then Oday made two more free throws with 7.3 seconds left to make it a two-point game again.
Kobe Newton, a Portland, Oregon product who helped Fullerton College win a CCCAA state championship during his two seasons there, then made two free throws with 4.3 seconds left to help Wyoming hold on.
Oday led Fullerton with 18 points on 4-of-8 shooting while grabbing five rebounds. Kaleb Brown had 11 points, five rebounds and three assists, while Zachary Visentin added a career-high 11 points on 5-for-5 shooting and Richardson also scored 11.
Fullerton’s bench was a key factor all night, out-scoring Wyoming’s reserves 29-18.
Newton scored 20 points to pace the Cowboys. The senior shooting guard made his first six shots of the game and finished 6 for 9 from the field (5 for 8 from 3-point range) while making all three of his free throws. Agbim scored 16 points, and Touko Tainamo added 13 points on 5-for-6 shooting.
Fullerton led 22-20 with seven minutes left in the first half, but Wyoming finished the half on a 12-2 run for a 39-29 advantage at the intermission. The Cowboys then used an 8-0 run to open their 50-31 lead with 17:07 left in the second half.
Fullerton finished with a 34-22 advantage in points in the paint and a 13-5 advantage in fast-break points.
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Fullerton will host NCCAA program Nobel (of Los Angeles) on Saturday at 2 p.m. in its final nonconference matchup.
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