STANFORD, Calif. – Cal State Fullerton men's basketball was unable to keep up with Stanford's three-point shooting in the second half, losing to the Cardinal on the road Friday afternoon by a final score of 80-53. With the loss the Titans drop to 0-2 on the year. 

"I thought we were really good and really disciplined the first 20 minutes. We stuck with our game plan and executed at a high level," said Head Coach Dedrique Taylor. "But in the first four minutes of the second half, I thought we let them get into a rhythm – making free throws, getting three pointers, and so on. Stanford became really active from an offensive and defensive standpoint, and we just didn't answer the bell."

Fullerton played Stanford tough in the first half, going on a 15-1 run to take a 20-10 lead midway through the half. The Titans defense was stifling the Cardinal offense early, holding Stanford without a field goal for over 10 minutes. 

The Titans were aggressive early, earning 18 foul shots while hitting 14 of them. However, Fullerton also struggled from the field, shooting just 5-of-15 in the first 20 minutes of action. 

Stanford closed the first half out on a 7-0 run to take a 30-27 lead into the locker room at halftime. 

The Cardinal carried their momentum into the second half, specifically from three-point range. Stanford hit 5-of-6 shots from behind the arc in the first six minutes of the second half to open up a 12-point lead. Stanford went on a 13-0 run to extend its lead to 54-38 midway through the half. 

"In the second 20 minutes, Stanford did a better job of executing their game plan and we didn't fight enough for us," Taylor said. "Win or lose, you have to stay together and you have to compete. In the second 20 minutes, I didn't feel like we did that and it showed."

John Mikey Square did his best to keep the Titans in the game, scoring 11 second half points on 4-of-6 from the field and 3-of-4 from the free-throw line. Square scored a team-high 13 points in the game on 71 percent shooting. 

While Stanford struggled to shoot the ball in the first half, it completely flipped the script in the second half. The Cardinal shot 55 percent from the floor in the second half including 50 percent (10-of-20) from distance. 

On the other end the Titans had a tough time shooting from three-point range, shooting just 25 percent on 3-of-12. Fullerton tried to make up for its lack of three-point shooting by getting to the paint and drawing fouls. The Titans shot 33 free-throws while making 24 of them for a 72.7 percentage. 

Fullerton continues its road trip to open the season next Wednesday at Colorado. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. PT.

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