Tritons again can’t hold lead, this time against Titans

It was a case of déjà vu, one more time, all over again for the UC San Diego men’s basketball team Wednesday night.

For the 10th time in 14 Big West games, the Tritons led at halftime, this time against Cal State Fullerton.

But once again, UCSD couldn’t close out the game, losing 76-73 at LionTree Arena. The Tritons are now 2-8 in the 10 Big West games they’ve led at the half.

The loss was UCSD’s fifth straight as the Tritons fell to 8-18, 3-11. Cal State Fullerton improved to 15-12, 9-6.

This time, the problem was taking care of the basketball. After committing just one turnover in the first half, UCSD turned the ball over 10 times in the second half. Cal State Fullerton scored 15 points off the turnovers.

Just 5 minutes, 44 seconds into the game, UCSD led 20-6. By halftime, the lead would dwindle to 40-35.

Cal State Fullerton took its first lead of the second half at 48-47. From there, the game turned into a see-saw affair. With the game tied at 71, the Titans hit five of seven free throws in the final 27.6 seconds to secure the win.

Down 73-71, Jake Kosakowski missed an open three for UCSD with 16 seconds to play.

Francis Nwaokorie led UCSD with 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting.

Bryce Pope scored 18 for the Tritons.

Cal State Fullerton’s Latrell Wrightsell Jr. led all scorers with 25.

Norcross is a freelance writer.