Eastern falls to Fullerton

FULLERTON, Calif. – Cal State Fullerton recorded an easy 89-63 victory over Eastern Washington University on Saturday afternoon in a non-conference men’s basketball game at Titan Gym.

The Titans went on runs of 15-0 and 11-0 in the first half to open a 20-point lead at halftime, and CSF was never threatened in the second half.

The Eagles had their four-game winning streak snapped.

EWU (12-13) returns to Big Sky Conference play this week, as the Eagles return home to face second-place Montana on Thursday and fourth-place Montana State on Saturday.

Eastern freshman Rodney Stuckey led the Eagles in scoring for the 22nd straight game with 19 points. He also had a season-high nine rebounds and out six assists. Senior Deuce Smith scored 13 points and freshman Matt Penoncello chipped in 10 for EWU.

Cal State Fullerton point guard Bobby Brown led all scorers with 25 points, with Frank Robinson and Jamaal Brown added 16 points apiece.

The Titans of the Big West Conference are 12-11 overall.

The Eagles made just 37 percent of their shots from the field in the first half, but improved to 54 percent in the second half to finish at 45 percent for the game, but CSF shot 59 percent.

The Eagles made just 3 of 15 3-point field-goal attempts and 10 of 19 free throws.

CS Fullerton 89, EWU 63

Eastern Washington (12-13)—Stuckey 8-16 2-4 19, Penoncello 3-6 2-2 10, Smith 5-10 3-5 13, Williams 1-3 0-0 2, Butorac 4-7 0-0 8, Bekkering 1-3 1-1 3, Humphrey 1-2 2-4 4, Zumwalt 0-4 0-0 0, Beitinger 1-2 0-1 2, Risper 1-2 0-2 2. Totals 25-55 10-19 63.

Cal State Fullerton (12-11)—Robinson 6-11 1-2 16, J.Brown 5-9 6-6 16, B.Brown 10-15 1-1 25, Burns 3-4 2-6 8, Harper 4-7 0-0 11, Massey 0-0 0-0 0, Battles 1-1 0-0 2, Clemmons 0-0 0-0 0, Cottrell 1-5 0-0 2, Moret 1-3 1-1 3, Nunez 3-3 0-0 6. Totals 34-58 11-16 89.

Halftime—Cal State Fullerton 47, Eastern Washington 27. 3-point goals—Eastern Washington 3-15 (Penoncello 2-4, Stuckey 1-5, Zumwalt 0-2, Smith 0-4), Cal State Fullerton 10-21 (B.Brown 4-7, Harper 3-5, Robinson 3-5, J.Brown 0-1, Cottrell 0-1, Moret 0-2). Fouled out—None. Rebounds—Eastern Washington 30 (Stuckey 9), Cal State Fullerton 32 (J.Brown, Robinson 5). Assists—Eastern Washington 15 (Stuckey 6), Cal State Fullerton 17 (B.Brown 9). Total Fouls—Eastern Washington 15, Cal State Fullerton 20. A—632.