FULLERTON, Calif. ? Senior guard Josh Akognon enjoyed the second-greatest scoring day ever by a CSUB men's basketball opponent, pouring in 41 points to lead Cal State Fullerton to an 87-64 win Saturday night at Titan Gym.
Akognon nailed six three-pointers and made all 15 of his free throw attempts. His 41 points trail only the 47 points posted by Dewan Scott of Seton Hall on Dec. 20, 1997 on CSUB's opponent scoring list.
Led by Akognon, who made several of his treys from well beyond NBA range, Fullerton made its first 10 field goal attempts while sprinting to a 30-10 lead to open the game. The Titans shot an amazing 74 percent (17-of-23) in the first half to head to intermission with a 52-25 lead.
CSUB sophomore Donavan Bragg (Inglewood/Serra HS) knocked down a three-pointer to open the game and give the Roadrunners an early lead. Unlike the Titans, however, CSUB shooters missed their next 11 attempts from beyond the arc.
The Roadrunners trailed by as many as 32 points before they abandoned their perimeter game and began to attack inside. With Santwon Latunde (Landover, Md./Cowley County CC) and Terrence Johns (Chicago/Bakersfield College) attacking in the paint, CSUB righted its ship.
Latunde came on to lead the Roadrunners with 19 points while grabbing a game-high nine rebounds. Johns, who scored a career-high 26 points in Titan Gym last season, added 18 points Saturday night. Led by their efforts, the Roadrunners out-scored the Titans 49-40 over the final 24 minutes.
CSUB closes its longest road trip of the season?five games?when it plays at South Dakota State Tuesday night in Brookings. The Roadrunners return home to host defending Western Athletic Conference champion Boise State Dec. 20.
CSU Fullerton 87, CSU Bakersfield 64
CSU BAKERSFIELD (3-7): Blakley 1-8 6-6 8; Lee 2-3 1-1 5; Bragg 1-5 0-0 3; Emanuel 2-8 0-0 4; Johns 6-16 6-6 18; Johnson 0-2 3-4 3; R. Brown 0-1 0-0 0; Carlson 1-2 0-0 2; Lara 0-3 0-0 0; Latunde 8-13 3-6 19; C. Brown 1-1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 22-65 19-23 64.
CSU FULLERTON (5-6): G. Anderson 6-6 3-5 15; Guisse 1-2 0-0 2; Akognon 10-20 15-15 41; Lassiter 2-6 5-6 10; Streeter 1-4 0-0 3; Thompson 1-1 0-0 3; Andersen 0-1 0-0 0; Shamsud-din 1-2 0-0 0; Rhymes 2-4 0-0 4; Miller 3-3 1-2 7; Mensha 0-0 0-0 0; Thomas 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 27-49 24-28 87.
HALFTIME: FULL 52-25. 3-PT. FG: CSUB 1-12 (Bragg 1-3, Johns 0-1, Johnson 0-1, Dennis 0-1, Carlson 0-1, Blakley 0-2, Emanuel 0-3); FULL 9-21 (Akognon 6-11, Streeter 1-1, Thompson 1-1, Lassiter 1-5, Guisse 0-1, Andersen 0-1, Shamsud-din 0-1). REBOUNDS: CSUB 35 (Latunde 9); FULL 34 (Akognon, Guisse 7). ASSISTS: CSUB 9 (Emanuel 4); FULL 19 (Streeter 5). TURNOVERS: CSUB 13, FULL 15. BLOCKS: CSUB 0; FULL 8 (Miller 3). STEALS: CSUB 4 (Emanuel 2); FULL 6 (Anderson 3). TECHNICALS: Blakley, Streeter. FOULED OUT: Bragg, Latunde, Guisse. OFFICIALS: Terrazas, Edwards, Schemel. ATTN: 801.
