Denver men’s basketball (5-7) faced the Cal State Fullerton Titans (5-7) on Saturday afternoon at Hamilton Gym. The Titans were the third team this season to score more than 100 points against Denver in the 105-86 Pioneer loss. Denver actually outscored the Titans in the second half, 58-54, but the Pioneers were torched in the first half, 51-28.

DU suffered a slow start, trailing 15-5. The Titans dominated the next five minutes, scoring from inside or kicking out to the open man, 25-9. Denver shot a tepid 26% in the first ten minutes. Denver trailed 40-16, giving up 14 points in the paint while the Titans scored 10 points off Pioneer turnovers. The Titans kept pulling away, hitting the half-century mark, 51-28, with :38 seconds in the first half.

It was a brutal first half for Denver. Jeremiah Burke was the only bright spot with 16 points and two rebounds. Only four Pioneers found the scoresheet on 33% shooting. DU trailed by 9 in the rebound column.

Denver opened the second half with more energy but Fullerton responded with more hot shooting. Denver trailed 70-48 five minutes into the second half following a Julius Rollins bucket. Fullerton’s 13/23 shooting from downtown pulled the lead to 85-56 at the midway mark. Denver cut the gap to 19 with 4:25 on a Shaun Wysocki put-in. Cal State Fullerton finally hit the century mark, 100-79, as the contest entered the final three minutes. Final score 105-86.

The Titans shot a blistering 56.3% from the field with 25 points coming on the break. Jeremiah Burke led the Pioneers with 23 points and 6 rebounds. Zane Nelson collected 17 points and 3 rebounds in the loss.

Next up for DU is UCCS (D2) on Tuesday at 7:00 pm MT at Hamilton Gym.