MALIBU — Cal State Fullerton trailed Pepperdine for much of the night but caught the Waves in the final five minutes and used another solid performance at the free-throw line to close out a 72-63 road win on Tuesday night at Firestone Fieldhouse.
The Titans (2-5) were behind by as much as 10 points multiple times in the second half, but they grabbed a 60-58 lead when Donovan Oday stole the ball on an inbounds pass and went the length of the court for a dunk with 4:40 left.
Pepperdine (1-5) tied the score on a pair of Stefan Todorovic free throws about a minute later, but Fullerton went ahead to stay on a Kaleb Brown jumper in the paint. John Mikey Square made a pair of free throws before Brown made another jumper for a 66-60 lead with 2:11 remaining.
An Oday basket made it an eight-point lead with 43 seconds left, then Zion Richardson followed a missed shot by Pepperdine by making a pair of free throws with 18 seconds left to secure the win.
Oday scored 15 points (11 in the second half) to lead four Fullerton players in double figures. Brown had 13 points while Square scored 12 and Richardson had 11.
The Titans, who are shooting 81% from the foul line this season, went 21 for 25 (84%) against the Waves.
Fullerton shot 34% from the field in the first half but turned things around after halftime, shooting 58% while holding Pepperdine to just 37%.
Todorovic had 16 points and nine rebounds to pace Pepperdine, while Zion Bethea had 13 points, four rebounds and three steals and Boubacar Coulibaly added 11 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots. Moe Odum had 10 points and five assists.
UP NEXT
Fullerton plays at Pacific on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
Pepperdine travels to Tempe, Arizona, to take part in the Arizona Tip-Off against New Mexico State on Friday at 12:30 p.m. PT.
Originally Published: