LONG BEACH — A tough start for Joshua Ward and the Cal State Fullerton basketball team ended with a fantastic finish.

Ward made two free throws with 16.8 seconds left to break a tie against Long Beach State, and two more with 3.6 seconds remaining to seal an 86-82 victory in a Big West Conference game on Thursday night at the Pyramid.

“You couldn’t ask for a better situation and a better guy,” Fullerton coach Dedrique Taylor said of Ward. “He wants those situations, so for him to be able to be successful in that situation is awesome for him.”

Ward, who had two turnovers and two missed shots on the first four possessions of the game, finished with 22 points, five rebounds and seven assists.

Bryce Cofield added 18 points, seven rebounds and three steals off the bench for Fullerton (13-13 overall, 8-6 Big West), which has won five of its past six games.

Fullerton, which beat LBSU, 71-61, on Jan. 22 at Titan Gym, trailed by as many as 12 points in the first half before posting its first regular-season sweep against Long Beach since the 2019-20 season.

“We finally got our wits about us,” Taylor said. “In the second half, we were able to find our rhythm defensively and string some stops together and come out victorious.”

LBSU leading scorer Gavin Sykes returned after missing the previous three games with a foot injury, but the freshman was held to 12 points and had a key missed free throw and turnover in the final minute.

Petar Majstorovic scored 17 of his 22 points in the first half for Long Beach (8-17, 4-9), which has lost six in a row.

The Titans gave up the first seven points of the game and spent the rest of the first half chasing LBSU.

Taylor subbed out all five of his starters just 3:21 into the game, but the reserves couldn’t get any closer than four points before Taylor began sending his starters back in.

“Just to get their attention because I didn’t think we were moving the way we were capable of moving in the first half with that group,” Taylor said of the wholesale substitutions. “I felt like we needed to break their rhythm and bring a different type of energy. The second group went in and they did just that.”

LBSU took its first double-digit lead at 26-16 on a three-point play by Cole Farrell with 9:36 left in the opening half and stretched its biggest advantage to 12 on a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer by Shaquil Bender with 1:45 left before halftime.

The Titans scored the final four points of the first half, the last two on a steal and layup at the buzzer by Jaden Henderson to get within 48-41.

LBSU shot 61.1% in the first half, compared to 48.5% for the Titans.

“The first half, we did not have energy,” Taylor said. “We weren’t us from a defensive standpoint. We were scoring at will, but anytime you play a team like that, you’ve got to get some stops, and you’ve got to string some stops together.”

An out-of-bounds replay reversal gave the Titans the ball back with 17:38 left in the game, and Jefferson De La Cruz Monegro hit a baseline jumper to cut the margin to 51-48, the closest the Titans had been since giving up the first seven points of the game.

They cut it to two on a 3-pointer by Christian Williams, tied it on two free throws by Kendrick De Luna and took their first lead at 54-53 on two free throws by Landon Seaman with 15:19 left.

The teams then traded leads until LBSU scored six in a row to move out to a 67-61 lead, but the Titans came back with a 12-0 run to surge ahead 73-67 with 6:24 left.

LBSU regained the lead at 79-78 on a pull-up jumper by Sykes with 2:47 left, and the teams traded leads over the next two possessions. Long Beach had a chance to move back ahead with 42.5 seconds remaining, but Sykes missed one of two free throws to keep the score tied at 82-82.

Ward then dribbled the ball on the ensuing possession until about eight seconds remained on the shot clock before driving to the basket and getting fouled by Shay Johnson Jr. with 16.8 seconds remaining.

Ward made both free throws for an 84-82 lead. Sykes lost the ball out of bounds on the other end and Ward sealed the win with two more free throws.

“That was a great one for this group,” Taylor said. “To win like that, gutsy win on the defensive end, I think it says a lot about this group.”

BIG WEST STANDINGS

Through Thursday, Feb. 12

Team – Overall, Big West

Hawaii – 18-5, 10-3

UC Santa Barbara – 17-8, 10-4

UC Irvine – 16-9, 9-4

Cal State Northridge – 15-10, 8-5

UC Davis – 15-10, 8-6

Cal State Fullerton – 13-13, 8-6

UC San Diego – 17-9, 7-7

Cal Poly (SLO) – 10-16, 6-8

Long Beach State – 8-17, 4-9

UC Riverside – 8-18, 3-11

Cal State Bakersfield – 8-18, 2-12

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