HENDERSON, Nev. — Damari Milstead said his Cal State Fullerton team had the players to keep pace with Long Beach State if the Big West Tournament final turned into a shootout.
That’s what occurred Saturday night during a back-and-forth battle between the rivals, but it was the Titans’ preferred game style that sent them back to the NCAA Tournament.
E.J. Anosike’s monster put-back dunk was the highlight of Fullerton’s 72-71 victory over top-seeded Long Beach to capture the Big West Tournament title at the Dollar Loan Center.
Second-seeded Fullerton (21-10) receives the conference’s automatic berth in the 68-team NCAA Tournament and will participate in the Big Dance for the first time since 2018.
Fullerton will learn its the day, time and opponent for its first NCAA Tournament game when the pairings are released on Sunday at 3 p.m. PT.
Fullerton coach Dedrique Taylor has led the Titans to the tournament championship game in three of the last five years.
Long Beach’s high-scoring backcourt of Colin Slater and Joel Murray did the heavy lifting during the back-and-forth second half. Fullerton’s dynamic duo of Milstead and Anosike did its part to keep pace in the game that had seen 11 lead changes with 7:12 left.
Tobias Rotegaard and Jadon Jones sandwiched 3-pointers around a jumper by Joel Murray to give Long Beach (20-12) a 54-50 lead midway through the second half but Anosike scored nine points and Harris the other five as Fullerton answered with a 14-2 run to take an eight-point lead about 5 minutes later and the Titans led the rest of the way.
Anosike’s poster dunk over Slater changed the momentum and gave the Titans a 64-59 advantage with 5:27 left. Anosike finished with 22 points and eight rebounds and his physical presence inside guided Fullerton past UC Davis in the quarterfinals and Hawaii in the semifinals before their showdown with LBSU.
Long Beach freshman forward Jadon Jones drilled a 3-pointer to give his team new life and trim Fullerton’s lead to 72-71 with 38 seconds left. LBSU had the ball last to work for a potential game-winning shot but failed to get a shot off as the ball was stripped just before time expired.
Milstead hit five 3-pointers and finished with 17 points for Fullerton. Tray Maddox Jr. added 13 points and six assists and Jalen Harris scored 10.
Maddox’s 3-pointer erased what had been a 14-point deficit and gave the Titans a 32-31 lead at halftime. Fullerton finished the first half on a 17-2 run after trailing 29-15.
The 6-foot-1 Slater had the hot hand late in the first half and delivered a five-point stretch that gave LBSU a 14-point advantage and had the Fullerton coaches shaking their heads on the sideline.
Slater had some early trash talk for the Fullerton bench after he hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give Long Beach a 12-7 advantage with 13:51 left in the first half. Soon after Murray had a 3-pointer of his own, forcing the Titans to call a timeout with an eight-point deficit.
Costly turnovers by the Titans led to back-to-back jumpers from Slater and Murray as LBSU opened a 24-13 advantage with less than eight minutes left before halftime.
Long Beach forward Aboubacar Traore left the game after taking a hard fall on his back with 7:41 remaining in the first half. Traore held his lower back in pain before walking off the floor under his own power. He was able to return in the second half.
Murray led Long Beach with 24 points and Slater, the Big West Player of the Year, scored 23, going 5 for 9 from 3-point range. Jordan Roberts added 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
As the regular-season conference champion, LBSU is guaranteed a berth in the 32-team NIT. Those pairings will be released Sunday evening after the NCAA Tournament field is set.
More to come on this story.