National Basketball Association
Southern California 53, Cal St. Fullerton 49
When: 11:00 PM ET, Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Where: Galen Center, Los Angeles, California
Officials:
# Mike Reed, # Kurt Walker, # Darryl White
Attendance:
2297
By SportsDirect Inc.
USC 53, Cal State Fullerton 49: Nikola Jovanovic and Darion Clark posted double-doubles and the host Trojans fended off a furious comeback to beat the Titans for the fifth straight time.
Jovanovic scored 13 points and grabbed 11 rebounds while Clark pulled down a career-high 14 boards and scored 10 points as USC (3-3) hung on for the win despite blowing a 14-point second-half lead. Katin Reinhardt finished with nine points while Jordan McLaughlin had all four of his points in a crucial span.
Lanerryl Johnson paced Cal State Fullerton (1-3) with 21 points including four 3-pointers in the second half. Moses Morgan added 10 points for the Titans, who missed their final three shots after closing the gap to 50-49 with 1:56 to play.
Clark's layup gave USC an 18-17 lead late in the first half and the Trojans never trailed again. USC took a 24-19 advantage into the break and after Reinhardt nailed a 3-pointer at the 16:31 mark, USC had its first double-digit lead 31-21.
The Titans later went on a 13-3 run to narrow the gap to 44-42 before McLaughlin hit his only two field goals. Jovanovic missed a free throw with 18 seconds to play but Johnson missed a potential game-tying layup and Julian Jacobs' dunk sealed the game with four seconds to play.
GAME NOTEBOOK: USC played without freshman C Malik Martin, who suffered a knee injury last week. ...Morgan entered the game with 11 3-pointers on the season but went 1-for-7 from behind the arc against the Trojans. ...Alex Harris scored just two points after netting 20 last time out for the Titans.
Top Game Performances
Cal St. Fullerton |
|
Southern California |
Lanerryl Johnson 21 |
Scoring |
Nikola Jovanovic 13 |
Joe Boyd 1 |
Assists |
Darion Clark 3 |
Joe Boyd 8 |
Rebounds |
Darion Clark 14 |
Josh Gentry 2 |
Free Throws Made |
Strahinja Gavrilovic 1 |
Sheldon Blackwell 1 |
Steals |
Malik Marquetti 3 |
Kennedy Esume 2 |
Blocks |
Nikola Jovanovic 4 |
Team Stats Summary