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FULLERTON — The Cal State Fullerton basketball team held off Idaho State to win its home opener on Monday night, the 62-61 victory making Dedrique Taylor the winningest coach in program history. Taylor has 156 wins at Fullerton, breaking a tie with Bob Burton. “It means a lot in terms of just who our program is and what we’ve been doing the past 11 years.
It says a lot for our kids. It says a lot for our young men. It says a lot for our coaches,” said Taylor, the only coach in program history to lead the team to multiple NCAA Tournament appearances (2018, 2022).
“It’s a hell of a feat to be able to accomplish what we’ve been able to in the amount of time we’ve been here.” The milestone victory didn’t come easy on a night when the Titans (1-4) and the Bengals (2-3) found themselves in a back-and-forth affair for much of the night. There were five ties and 17 lead changes.
The Titans shot 57% in the first half while holding Idaho State to 35%, but the Titans trailed 32-31 at halftime because they gave up 11 offensive rebounds to Idaho State. Fullerton took the lead five minutes into the second half on a turnover that led to a fast-break dunk by freshman Davis Bynum, who scored 10 of his 12 points after the intermission. The Fullerton defense got stingy down the stretch, holding Idaho State scoreless from the field for more than seven minutes at one point.
With 48 seconds left, Kaleb Brown recovered a loose ball on the Titans’ end of the court and converted a three-point play for a 60-52 lead, but the visitors refused to roll over. Related Articles Idaho State went on a 9-2 run over the final 38 seconds, but the Titans held on. John Mikey Square had a team-high 17 points and grabbed five rebounds for Fullerton, while Donovan Oday matched his career-high with 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting (3 for 3 from 3-point range) and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.
Jake O’Neil led the Bengals with 17 points, 12 rebounds and three steals. Dylan Darling also had 17 points and hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to get Idaho State within a point. Isaiah Griffin finished with 16 points and six rebounds.
Fullerton faces UCLA on Friday at 7 p.m. at Pauley Pavilion.
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