FULLERTON, Calif. - The Cal State Fullerton Titans fell at home 73-62 to LMU on Saturday night at Titan Gym for their final game before Big West play starts next week.
The Titans hung tough for most of the game but couldn't capitalize on their momentum down the stretch.  After falling behind 10 points to start the fourth quarter, the Titans closed the deficit to a single possession at 3 points (61-58) with 4:55 left in the game.  But the Titans could not find themselves a tying basket and faded down the stretch over the final five minutes in the loss to the Lions.
Cristina Jones led the Titans with 20 points and 7 rebounds.Â
Maxine Sutisna was the only other Titan in double figures with 11 points off the bench. The Lions had four players in double figures with Jess Lawson leading the Lions with 24 points. The Titans had their best night shooting wise for the season after shooting 43.9% from the floor. The Lions shot marginally better at 44.4%. However, the Lions went 6-for-12 from beyond the arc and the Titans went 3-for-8. LMU out rebounded the Titans 35-to-30 for the night. The trademark Titans defense only had eight steals for the game and only forced 17 turnovers from LMU. It was just the second game this season where the Titans committed more turnovers then their opponents. Â
The Titans started the game strong after LMU after scoring the first five points of the game.
LMU then slowly snatched the lead back from the Titans midway through the first quarter. Â After trading the lead a few times, LMU took a 21-18 lead after the first quarter.
The Lions jumped to a seven point lead to start the second quarter (25-18) before the Titans answered back with a 7-0 run to tie the game.
LMU then went on a 9-2 run to regain their seven point lead. Â After a layup from
Nicole Steiner and a steal and a bucket from
Maxine Sutisna cut the lead down to 3 points, the Lions scored the final 5 points of the quarter to take a 39-31 lead into halftime.
Both sides scored 15 points a piece in the third quarter as
Cristina Jones (7 points) and
Maxine Sutisna (5 points) did the bulk of the scoring for the period.
In the final frame, the Titans began slowly chipping away at the Lions lead. Â The Titans cut the 10 point deficit to three points (61-58) with 4:55 left to go in the game.
However, the Titans went on a scoring drought for over four and half minutes to prevent the comeback attempt from the Titans. Â The Lions scored just one field goal over the final five minutes as they made 10-of-12 free throws down the stretch.
The Titans began conference play on Thursday at Cal Poly for the Big West's Bold Week initiative. Â Tip-off is set for 6:00 PM in San Luis Obispo.
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