Portland, Ore. – The Titans Men's Basketball team faced Northern Colorado Sunday morning on the final day of the Portland Invitational. In a hard-fought game, the Titans fell short, dropping this one 97-93 against the Bears.
 
The Bears scored first, but the Titans were quick to answer back, and both teams stayed within reach of each other. After nine minutes of play, the Titans went on their longest scoring run of the game, where Kendrick De Luna, Joshua Ward, and Bryce Cofield put together a total of eight unanswered points for a two-point lead (22-20).
 
After the Titans run, the Bears proved what they could do, posting their best scoring run of the game with nine straight points. Both teams went back and forth before the Bears began tallying points that would eventually add up to an eight-point lead with one minute remaining. Fullerton tacked on a few last-minute free throws to cut down Northern Colorado's lead, trailing 39-33 going into the second half.
 
The Titans struggled with turnovers in the first two games of the weekend but improved on Sunday morning as they only had one turnover in the first half. The Bears tallied four turnovers on which Fullerton recorded seven points. Fullerton was successful on the floor, logging 16 points in the paint and 10 points off the bench.
 
For the first 13 minutes of the second half, the Titans and Bears continued to trade points as the Bears' largest lead was six. Northern Colorado began to pull away when they posted 15 points in just four minutes to take a 12-point lead over the Titans.
 
Fullerton locked in for the final four minutes of the game and chopped down on the Bears lead. With less than 30 seconds in the game, the Titans had brought their deficit down to just three points when the scoreboard read 93-90. The Titans netted one from behind the arc at 12 seconds but gave away four free points by fouling in an attempt to save time, leading to the Northern Colorado 97-93 win in Portland.
 
After shooting 36% in the first half, the Titans improved to 51% when they outscored the Bears 60-58 in the second half. CSF tallied 32 points in the paint while the Bears only logged 24. Fullerton continued to stay in control over the ball as they only had three turnovers in the latter half, but the Bears did score on each Titans turnover.
 
Joshua Ward had himself a day at Chiles Center as he led the team with 31 points and recorded five rebounds and two assists. Bryce Cofield also had an impressive day, logging 27 points, seven rebounds and three assists.
 
The Titans head back home to enjoy the holiday and prepare to host the Pepperdine Waves at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
 
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