Games 724-725: Thursday doubleheader

725 - Cal Poly at Cal State Fullerton
February 28 at Titan Gym in Fullerton, CA
espn3

A ton of great performances & storylines in this one:

* Khalil Ahmad and Kyle Allman, two of the top five scorers in Fullerton history, combined for 47 points in the Titans' 86-75 win.

* Fullerton attempted 49 (!) free throws, making 35 (71%).

* Donovan Fields, a diminutive/excellent senior guard for Cal Poly, had a team-high 22 points. Fields is probably not an NBA prospect, but he might get a un-drafted free agent look & at worst looks to be ready to play professionally somewhere.

But the best moment of the night came with about 25 seconds to play. 

Fullerton team manager Sammy Jones was cleared by the NCAA to dress for tonight's game and with 11 seconds left, Jones drove the lane and made a runner, was fouled and completed a three-point play for the hosts' final points of the night. Naturally, his teammates and the crowd went nuts, and during Cal Poly's ensuing free throw trip, a "Sammy" chant began in the arena.

Great moment.

724 - Arkansas State at Georgia State
February 28 at GSU Sports Arena in Atlanta, GA
ESPN +

GSU is one of the top three-point shooting teams in the country and showed it Thursday.

The Panthers hit 14 with Jeff Thomas's five in eight attempts, and Devin Mitchell's four leading the way for the hosts in a 76-60 victory.

Ty Cockfield came into the night second in the Sun Belt in scoring and while he led the way for Arkansas State with a game-high 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting, none of his teammates reached double figures and shot a combined 14-of-46 (30%).

That's win No. 20 (& an 11-5 record in Sun Belt play) for the Panthers, giving the program at least 20 victories in three consecutive seasons for the first time ever.

It's pretty amazing what coach Ron Hunter has done for the men's basketball program. Hunter, 167-94 in 7 + seasons at the Atlanta school, has now won 20 in six of those eight seasons. In 38 previous seasons, 10 different coaches reached 20 just three times (2000-01, 2001-02, 2003-04).

Game 301 - Long Beach State at Cal State Fullerton

February 11 at Titan Gym in Fullerton, CA
ESPN

What a second half for Fullerton, which shot 68 percent over the final 20 minutes & pulled even at 5-5 in the Big West with a 74-69 victory.

It's the best 10-game start in conference play since the 2011-12 team won seven of its first 10.

Reserve Khalil Ahmad had scored just four points at halftime, but came alive in the second with 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting. Meanwhile, starter Tre Coggins missed just one of his seven shot attempts and broke through with 15 of his 22 points in the second.

The host Titans erased a 10-point deficit, & eventually took the lead for good at the 8:18 mark when Ahmad's conventional three-point play made it a 55-52 game.

Long Beach, which had all five starters score in double figures, but got just two points from its bench (Fullerton's bench, led by Ahmad scored 29), saw its six-game winning streak in the series come to an end.