FULLERTON, Calif. — Fueled by a career-high 19 points from DJ Brewton, Cal State Fullerton's men's basketball defeated North Dakota 64-54 Friday night at Titan Gym. The result improves the Titans' record to 3-4 on the season. 

"I thought defensively we put 40 good minutes together," head coach Dedrique Taylor said. "I thought we had an edge and played hard the whole game. We rebounded the ball well which is a big key for us. Defensively, we have to establish our identity and I thought this group did that tonight."

In a team-high 38 minutes of play, Brewton led the Titans with 19 points on 8-of-18 shooting and 3-of-4 from the line. He also grabbed six rebounds.

Following Brewton was Max Jones who, coming off a career-high 30 points against Nebraska, contributed 13 points. Jones went a perfect 7-of-7 from the line while also notching three steals and two boards

The Titan defense held strong throughout the game, forcing the Fighting Hawks to 36.1% shooting from the floor and 26.1% from the three-point line. Fullerton out-rebounded North Dakota 44-31. Grayson Carper led Fullerton defensively with a career-high 3 blocks and seven boards.

Both teams started the night trading baskets before Zachary Visentin produced a layup to give Fullerton an early 11-10 lead. Donovan Oday then scored a basket of his own in the paint and Jones hit back-to-back jumpers as the Titans led by 13, 34-21, at the half. 

The Titans led by as many as 14 points early in the second half, following a Brewton coast-to-coast lay-in, but North Dakota cut its deficit with back-to-back layups. The Fighting Hawks continued to chip away at the Titans' lead, eventually trailing by just three, 50-47, with 6:07 to go. 
 

coast ?? coast#DevelopU | #TusksUp | @DBrewton23 pic.twitter.com/kufI3itHps

— Titans Men's Basketball (@FullertonMBB) December 2, 2023

John Mikey Square and Brewton each converted three-point plays down the stretch before another Square layup built Fullerton's lead back to eight, 58-50, with 3:15 left. Vincent Lee, Beril Kabamba and Jones each knocked down free throws over the final minutes to put the game on ice, as the Titans came away with the 64-54 win. 

Fullerton remains home to host Stanton on Sunday, Dec. 3, at 2:00 p.m. PT.

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