Jan. 4, 2007

Box Score

Fullerton, Calif. - Senior point guard Bobby Brown scored 23 points and had 6 assists Thursday night to lead Cal State Fullerton to a streaky 76-72 Big West Conference victory over Cal State Northridge.

The Titans improved to 11-3 overall and 2-1 in the Big West with their 11th consecutive home victory dating to last season -- their seventh this season. Jason Hill had 21 points and Rob Haynes had 18 -- 16 of them in the second half -- for the Matadors, who fell to 6-7 and 0-2.

Frank Robinson added 17 points and a team-high 8 rebounds for the Titans, who set a school record by attempting 33 3-point field goals. They made 13, one shy of the record with Marcus Crenshaw (15 points) going 4-for-10 and Brown making 4 of 12.

Fullerton made only 9 of 23 free throws and withstood 60 percent shooting from the floor by Northridge, which made only 5 of 13 treys.

Northridge scored the first 11 points of the game before Scott Cutley made a 3-point play for the Titans with 13:35 to go in the half. That launched a 39-15 surge by Fullerton that carried to a 39-26 halftime lead. The Matadors again broke fast from the second-half whistle, outscoring the Titans 16-2 to take a 42-41 lead with 12:48 remaining.

Cutley scored inside to break a 44-44 tie at 11:18 and Fullerton led the rest of the way but couldn't shake the visitors. They built a lead as large as 11 points at 62-51 at 6:29 but Haynes hit back-to-back treys to make it a 5-point game. CSUN got the margin down to 3 points at 69-66 on another Haynes 3-pointer with 2:05 to play but Burns scored on a traditional 3-point play and the Matadors never got closer than the final margin.

It was Fullerton's sixth victory in a row over the Matadors, who committed 21 turnovers to 19 by Fullerton.

Northridge plays Saturday at UC Riverside while the Titans host Pacific.