Raymond Rose Legacy

[xanax12]

Quote: Originally Posted by VandyRedskins21

The consistency with this thread is phenomenal! I'm pretty jealous haha. I've tried posting my legacies over the years but never made it a past a few seasons. Good luck as you go into the conference tournament!

It's really a taxing job which I learned to love. After this I will be going to my other legacy, Rebuilding Rutgers, my very first in a power conference. thanks you for keeping touch.

[xanax12]

CAL STATE FULLERTON PULLS OFF A 96-95 STUNNER
Boots mighty Cal State Northridge out of the tournament

Mar. 9, Anaheim CA - Coach Bob Burton blurted out before the tournament that in Titans basketball offense is their best defense. They did just that as the Cal State Fullerton Titans ended Cal State Northridge’s mighty season with a 96-95 upset victory and earn themselves the right to meet the Pacific Tigers in the Big West Tournament Finals. The last time the Titans were in the tournament finals was only in 2015 losing to the UC Riverside Highlanders.

Conference scoring champion Jerrold Paulsen and senior guard Reggie Miller finished with 22 and 20 points respectively in a double-barrel offense against the vaunted Matadors pressing defense. Both teams shot above 50% employing the same uptempo run and gun style of play. Miller spewed fire early scattering 20 of his points in the first half alone which the Titans ended on top at 52-48. By the 13-minute mark of the second half with the Titans up by 7 at 60-53, the scoring board began to look like a Christmas tree with red foul lights. Point guard Evan Prato and forwards and Vytaustas Gedminas for the Titans had to ride the bench and so did Matador guard Tarick Hoskin and forwards Emeka Barrett and Lorenzo Paez, who has been nursing an injured hamstring since the start of the tournament. Lavelle Liberty then came off the bench and pulled the Tigers within reach of the Titans.

Miller himself was in and out of the game cooling him off somewhat. Soon after the Titans were hit with bonus penalty with still 10:49 remaining, however the Matadors blew a lot of chances from the free throw line but were still able to cut the lead to a single field goal at 67-65. It is at this point that Paulsen went to work. Paulsen shoved the Titans to a safer margin at 83-75. By the 5:26 mark all the starters were back in the field and a trifecta by Liberty put the Matadors again within striking distance. But Paulsen combined with Gedminas and pulled the Titans away once more for a comfortable 91-83 lead with time down to 2:37. By that time Sokolov, Barrett and Paez have fouled out.

The Matadors were down but not out, two free throws by Pedro Ruffin and another trey by Liberty in between a Paulsen miss. The Matadors were back in the hunt. However, a driving Tarick Hoskin came crashing down and out with an ankle injury. Ruffin calmly sank both of Hoskin’s free shots to cut the Titans lead to 93-90 with 1:15 remaining. After Gedminas and backup center Brian Hancock traded jumpers, a slashing Paulsen was fouled and was sent to the free throw line time down to 10.9 seconds. Paulsen muffed his first but made good his second for an imposing 4-point lead with only 10.9 ticks left. Bobby Parks heave a shot from afar at the buzzer to finalize the count.

Paulsen got the nod over Miller for the Player of the Game honors. Sokolov chipped in 18 points and 8 rebounds while Luke Randall had 12 for the Titans. Liberty was high point man for the game with 23 points on 5 triples. Trevor Simms had 16 while Ruffin and Hoskin added 13 and 11 respectively. Hancock had 9 points and a game high 10 rebounds for the Matadors.

Big West Tournament Semifinals
Mar 9, 2017	1ST	2ND	SCORE
#5 Cal State Fullerton	52	44	96
#1 Cal State Northridge	48	47	95

Cal State Fullerton Titans
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
J. Paulsen	29	7-14	0-3	6-9	5	2	0	0	1	20
R. Miller	23	7-12	4-7	4-5	2	7	0	0	0	22
E. Sokolov	23	6-9	2-2	4-6	8	3	0	0	0	18
E. Prato	15	0-3	0-3	0-0	0	3	0	0	0	0
V. Gedminas	12	2-5	0-1	3-4	3	1	0	2	0	7
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
T. Woodson	23	2-4	0-0	3-3	6	2	1	0	0	7
L. Randall	20	4-6	1-1	3-4	3	0	0	0	2	12
H. Bree	15	3-4	2-3	0-0	1	0	0	0	1	8
C. Barton	14	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	3	0	0	2	0
M. Lalugba	8	0-0	0-0	0-3	3	1	0	0	0	0
C. Mitchell	3	1-2	0-0	0-0	1	0	0	0	0	2
C. Denison	2	0-1	0-1	0-0	1	1	0	0	0	0
TEAM TOTALS		32-60	9-21	23-34	33	23	1	2	6	96

Cal State Northridge Matadors
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
P. Ruffin	27	2-4	0-0	9-10	2	6	0	0	1	13
T. Simms	25	6-10	0-0	4-10	6	1	0	1	0	16
E. Barrett	20	1-5	0-2	1-2	0	3	1	0	0	3
T. Hoskin	18	3-5	1-2	4-4	1	0	0	0	0	11
L. Paez	8	1-1	0-0	0-0	2	2	0	0	0	2
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
B. Rios	17	2-7	0-2	3-4	5	1	0	0	0	7
L. Liberty	15	8-9	5-6	2-2	0	1	0	0	0	23
B. Hancock	15	3-4	0-0	3-8	10	0	0	0	1	9
D. Kelly	12	1-6	0-0	1-2	1	3	1	0	0	3
D. Chatfield	12	1-1	1-1	2-2	0	3	2	0	0	5
B. Parks	8	1-2	1-2	0-0	0	3	0	0	0	3
R. Guilbeaux	1	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	1	0
TEAM TOTALS		29-54	8-15	29-44	27	23	4	1	3	95

[xanax12]

CAL STATE FULLERTON SLIGHT FAVORITES OVER PACIFIC
Titans are statistically better but first-year Pacific coach likes it that way

Mar. 10, Anaheim CA - Now that the Davids ahed slew the Goliaths, it’s up between them who among them stood taller. No strangers to the Big West Tournament Finals, Cal State Fullerton was there in 2015 while Pacific much earlier in 2011 which incidentally were won by UC Riverside. The Titans finished a little over 500 this season, winning 16 of 29 for a .551. The Tigers had to climb all the way back from 1-9 before the conference started and finishing at 7-9, good for 7th seed in the conference, and 8-18 overall for .307. They are 1-1 between themselves this season, the Titans routed them 84-62 towards the end of January before the Tigers came back to even things with a close 92-91 win last week.

Pundits have the Titans as slight favorites. The Titans shot 2nd best in the conference with 45% from the field while the Tigers were in 9th and last place at 42%. With its army of three-point shooters, the Titans ranked best averaging 37% and again the Tigers were 9th and last with only 31%. In rebounds, again the Titans at 36-32. Moreover, Coach Bob Burton boasts of the Big West scoring and assists champions. Jerrold Paulsen finished with a 19.2 per game at 53% shooter from the field and Evan Prato at 6.0 assists a game. Paulsen together with seniors Prato and Reggie Miller can light up the fireworks from beyond the three-point arch anytime.

Cliff Turiaf, Pacific’s first-year coach, looked at the situation differently. Throw down all these statistics away, they’re headed to the Finals. One thing going for Turiaf are his twin towers though he expects rookie hotshot Patrick Zamora, who led the Tigers in scoring with a 11.5 average, to shake off his playoff jitters. Senior Byron McLemore has been a driving force in the tournament inspiring the Tigers to step up to another level. Together with Jose Fernandez, the dynamic duo had shot a combined 33.5 points and hauled down 21.5 rebounds in the tournament. McLemore and Fernandez will match up with equally talented Vytaustas Gedminas and the outstanding freshman Evgueni Sokolov later this evening to earn the ticket to the March Madness.

[xanax12]

CAL STATE FULLERTON TITANS ARE THE BIG WEST TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS
Titans and Tigers in a down-to-wire 66-62 thriller

Mar. 10, Anaheim CA - Cal State Fullerton captured the Big West Tournament Championship after a tough 66-62 victory over Pacific. Rookie forward and Player of the Tournament Evgueni Sokolov buried the 10-foot jumper from the right elbow that stretched a slim Titans lead to 4 points for a two-possession game with 29.5 seconds remaining.

The game was so close the biggest lead had been 6 points, thrice. First at 43-37 after the Tigers rallied with a 12-2 bomb after a 34-35 deficit at the first half. Soon after the Titans unleashed their own 13-1 run to lead at 50-44. Lastly at 58-52 after a Sokolov inside move with time down to 3:19. The Tigers were down but not out. Their two freshman guards, Patrick Zamora and Cedric Elsey would bury treys that cut the lead by a single field goal at 60-58 with 1:25 remaining. Vytaustas Gedminas, who spent almost the whole afternoon in the bench with foul troubles, and Jose Fernandez would trade baskets with 48 ticks to go.

With the conference scoring champion Jerrold Paulsen and Reggie Miller well covered Sokolov took upon himself with one fake then heaved the ball for the insurance basket sealing the Titans second Big West Tournament Championship since 1978 when it was still called the Pacific Coast Athletic Association. The win spoiled the Cinderella dream of Pacific’s Cliff Turiaf of becoming the first ever NCAA Division 1 coach to win the conference tournament finals in his first year as coach.

Sokolov finished with a double-double 18 points and 15 rebounds while Paulsen and Miller wound up with similar 15 markers. Point guard Evan Prato had only 2 points in the game but dished out a game high 7 assists. Zamora led the Tigers with 13 points on 4 triples while Fernandez had 10. Senior forward and inspirational leader Byron McLemore closed out his brilliant college career with 9 markers and a prodigious 16 boards.

Big West Tournament Finals
Mar 10, 2017	1ST	2ND	SCORE
#7 Pacific	33	29	62
#5 Cal State Fullerton	35	31	66

Pacific Tigers
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
P. Zamora	30	5-8	3-4	0-0	0	4	0	0	0	13
E. Mendez	28	2-3	0-0	2-4	1	1	0	0	0	6
B. McLemore	27	4-11	0-0	1-4	16	2	0	0	0	9
J. Fernandez	26	4-9	0-2	2-6	6	5	0	0	0	10
C. Elsey	17	1-5	1-2	0-0	2	1	0	0	0	3
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
P. Jelenic	17	2-6	1-3	0-0	2	1	0	0	0	5
J. Gutierrez	12	1-3	0-0	1-2	2	1	0	1	0	3
J. Deren	9	1-3	0-1	1-2	2	1	0	0	1	3
M. Ager	8	2-2	1-1	0-0	0	0	0	0	1	5
M. Nyakundi	6	2-3	1-1	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	5
J. AndrisevIc	-- DID NOT PLAY --
B. Jameson	-- DID NOT PLAY --
TEAM TOTALS		24-53	7-14	7-18	31	16	0	1	2	62

Cal State Fullerton Titans
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
J. Paulsen	29	5-11	3-4	2-3	2	1	0	0	0	29
R. Miller	28	6-18	2-7	1-2	0	4	4	4	4	15
E. Sokolov	26	7-12	0-1	4-4	15	1	0	0	1	18
E. Prato	21	0-2	0-2	2-2	0	7	0	0	0	2
V. Gedminas	9	1-1	0-0	2-3	4	0	0	0	0	4
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
T. Woodson	20	2-3	1-1	0-4	2	1	0	0	0	5
H. Bree	18	1-5	0-2	0-0	4	2	1	0	0	2
L. Randall	16	1-2	1-1	2-2	6	1	0	0	0	2
C. Barton	8	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	3	0	0	0	0
M. Lalugba	5	0-0	0-0	0-0	3	0	0	0	0	0
C. Denison	-- DID NOT PLAY --
C. Mitchell	-- DID NOT PLAY --
TEAM TOTALS		23-54	7-18	13-20	36	20	1	0	1	66

[xanax12]

TOUGH DRAW, TITANS MATCH UP WITH NO. 10 INDIANA HOOSIERS
Matadors and Highlanders playing at the NIT

Mar. 12, Irvine CA - Big West Tournament Champion Cal State Fullerton is going to the NCAA Tournament Midwest Regional. However the Titans will on a tight fix in the first round when the play Big Ten's nationally ranked #10 the Indiana Hoosiers (25-7) on March 16 at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena.

Conference Season Champion Cal State Northridge and UC Riverside have been invited to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) Tournament to commence on March 15. The Matadors, who will be playing minus the injured Tarick Hoskin, may pull a surprise against Mountain West's the New Mexico Lobos (19-11) at the Matadome but the Highlanders will be hard-pressed playing at home against Southeastern Conference's the Kentucky Wildcats (19-13).

[Knickerbocker91]

Big name matchup for UC Riverside, how do they look in comparison?

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BIG WEST TEAMS SCORE BIG IN NIT OPENER
Cal State Northridge and UC Riverside in stunning upset wins

Mar. 15, Irvine CA - Big West teams made headlines right on opening day at the National Invitational Tournament (NIT). Conference Season champion Cal State Northridge pulled off a surprise win against Mountain West’s New Mexico at the Matadome, 65-56. Later, UC Riverside upset Southeastern’s Kentucky, 70-60, at the Student Recreation Arena as the Highlanders join the Matadors for the second round on March 21 next week.

Tied at 30-all at halftime, the Matadors went on a 12-2 run minutes into the second half to build a 10-point gap at 45-35. But the Lobos refused to give up and made a stirring comeback and after a three-pointer by Greg Salazar cutting the lead to 2, 54-56 with 2:45 left in the game. The Lobos threatened again at 56-58 with 1:08 remaining. Then with the shot clock almost running our Trevor Simms heaved a trifecta from the right quartercourt to stretch the lead to more comfortable margin of 5 sealing the victory for the Matadors and a second round match-up against another Mountain West team the TCU Horned Frogs.

Emeka Barrett scored a game high 14 points for the Matadors and was named Player of the Game. Lorenzo Paez, who was a non-factor in their conference defeat against eventual champion Cal State Fullerton, had a double-double 11 points and 11 rebounds while. Simms and Bobby Joe Parks finished with 9 apiece. Salazar was the only one in double-figures for the Lobos with 13 points.

It was a different Kentucky team that the Highlanders met at Riverside. Perhaps with a bitter resentment after being left out in bubble, the Wildcats came to sunny California for a vacation and not for basketball. The Highlanders led 33-29 at the half and stretched the lead to 8 going into the final 3 minutes. That could have waken up the Wildcats and they answered with back-to-back conversions to make it a little exciting going into the final minute of play, 59-55. However, Jameel Alexander hit a trifecta from the right sideline then on the Wildcats' return play Mark Locklier stole from underneath to clinch the victory for the Highlanders and arrange a meeting with Big 12’s the Oklahoma State Cowboys in the second round.

Elijah Brooks led the Highlanders with 15 points and was adjudged Player of the Game Alexander and Frank Derozan wound up with 10 points apiece. Jimmy Maye scored a game high 22 points for the Wildcats while West Gruber added 12.

[xanax12]

4TH SEED INDIANA TOO GOOD FOR THE TITANS
Hoosiers boot out the Big West champions, 71-60

Mar. 16, Irvine CA - Cal State Fullerton was booted out of the NCAA Basketball Tournament losing at the Midwest Regional First Round to 4th seed Indiana, 71-60. Down 26-35 at the half, the Titans were able to cut the lead to only 3 points at 44-41. Thereafter, the Hoosiers went on a crippling 14-0 run blanking the Titans for almost 6 minutes, 58-41, to virtually clinch the victory.

Jacques Momplaisir led the Hoosiers with 19 points to earn Player of theGame honors. Stephon O’Donnell added 19 while Shawan Blankson added 10. Corry Mcfarlin, who outplayed Evgueni Sokolov in the middle had 9 points and 13 rebounds. Big West scoring champion Jerrold Paulsen was the game high scorer with 20 points. Tim Woodson added 10 while Sokolov finished with 8 markers and 8 boards. Reggie Miller and Vytaustas Gedminas, who pulled down a game high 14 boards, contributed 8 apiece while Evan Prato had only 4 points but dished out 7 assists.