FULLERTON — Cal State Fullerton never trailed but had to survive a 22-turnover effort that fueled a late surge from La Sierra in a 61-55 win on Tuesday night at Titan Gym.
Kobe Young and Donovan Oday each had 11 points and six rebounds to lead the Titans (3-8 overall), who snapped a three-game losing streak that included an 0-2 start to Big West Conference play last week. John Mikey Square added nine points and seven rebounds.
Keith Richard made a pair of 3-pointers and scored all eight of his points in the first half, when Fullerton led its NAIA opponent by as much as 15 points.
The Titans held a 10-point advantage at halftime and stretched the margin to 48-31 on a Kaleb Brown 3-pointer with 10:42 left in the second half, but La Sierra refused to go quietly. The visitors whittled the margin to 59-52 with 1:16 remaining and got within 59-55 on an Anthony Montoya 3-pointer with 10 seconds left, but Young made a pair of free throws to close the scoring.
La Sierra finished with 15 steals to grab an 18-11 advantage in points off turnovers, but Fullerton held the Golden Eagles (0-7) to 35.1% shooting overall (20 for 57), outrebounded them 44-26 and enjoyed a significant advantage at the free-throw line, going 19 for 24 compared to 7 for 16 for La Sierra.
Montoya led the Golden Eagles with 14 points (4 for 7 from 3-point range) and three steals. Alex Archer had 12 points and four assists, and Noel Camejo added 11 points and three steals.
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Fullerton hosts Denver on Sunday at 2 p.m.
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