Long Beach State at Cal State Fullerton (-3.5) - 7:00pm Pacific - Game #823-824
This is easily Fullerton's biggest game of the season so far. They are one game back of Long Beach in the loss column of the Big West standings but play all three remaining conference games at home. A win here will put them in the driver's seat for at least the #2 seed in the conference tournament, which means two BYE's and an automatic spot in the semifinal. In the first meeting between these two, Fullerton had two key starters limited by foul trouble and LBS shot a blazing 52% from 3-point range. Still, the outcome was not decided until late in the game. Fullerton got a wake up call in huge upset loss at UC Riverside three games back but have played some of their best basketball of the season both before and after that game winning five of six overall. Point guard Bobby Brown (Big West's all time leading scorer) is rounding out a stellar career and second leading scorer forward Scott Cutley is back to 100% after playing through a thumb injury suffered in late December. Fullerton is a perfect 11-0 at home and is the more rested team. This will be Fullerton's fifth game in 19 days, while it is LBS's fifth game in 14 days, and third straight on the road.

Long Beach State had been 0-2 SU & ATS in conference road games this year before winning two straight on the road over the weekend at Cal Poly and at UCSB. They had to come from behind by double digits in both games. Cal Poly played without two starters, including second leading scorer (senior guard Dawin Whiten) due to ankle injuries. UCSB controlled the game nearly throughout but choked the game away late. LBS is easily capable of a letdown here considering everything they have been through over the past two weeks with player and coach suspensions, two down to the wire road wins, and speculation over the job status of head coach Larry Reynolds. They control the tiebreaker with UCSB now which gives them a two game cushion for the #2 seed in the conference tournament with just four games left which may take away some sense of urgency. Fullerton was a +3 road dog in the first meeting. Not much has changed since then, but these two teams can be so jekyl and hyde home and away that the home court reversal could be worth as many as 12-14 points instead of the 8-10 point standard. Either way the Titans are a good value here. Give the points.

RAS Official Play: Cal State Fullerton -3.5 1 UNIT


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