University Southern California Trojans
USC
Cal State Fullerton
Trojans Outlast Cal St.-Fullerton In OT
December 09, 2003 | Men's Basketball
Dec 10, 2003
By BETH HARRIS
AP Sports Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Desmon Farmer hit six consecutive free throws in overtime and Southern California rallied to beat Cal State-Fullerton 96-90 Tuesday night.
The Trojans (3-2) trailed much of the second half and needed a 3-pointer by Farmer with 56 seconds remaining to force overtime tied at 78. His 3-point attempt to win the game in regulation hit the side of the rim.
Even then, the Titans had a chance to win in regulation. Freshman Bobby Brown, who scored a season-high 27 points, missed on a driving layup. Anthony Bolton added 18 points for Fullerton (2-4).
Rory O'Neil led the Trojans with 21 points, Jeff McMillan added 20 points and Farmer finished with 18 points.
In overtime, the Trojans scored the first five points and never trailed again. Brown and Bolton scored all of Fullerton's points in the extra session. They each had a 3-pointer, giving the Titans 14 3-pointers for the game. Brown hit five of those and Bolton added four.
The Titans trailed 35-33 at halftime, but quickly took control and never trailed the rest of regulation.
McMillan scored and Farmer hit a 3-pointer that tied the game at 78 with 56 seconds left.
The Trojans played their third consecutive overtime game, a first-time streak for the program. They lost in overtime to UNLV 92-83 on Dec. 3 and beat St. Mary's 84-83 last Saturday.
The Titans opened the second half with a 19-6 run, including 3-pointers by Brown, Bolton and Pape Sow, to take a 52-41 lead. The Trojans answered with seven straight points to pull within four. Three times USC got within one point in the final 12 minutes, but couldn't take the lead.
A brief shoving match broke out with 3? minutes remaining that earned offsetting technical fouls for Fullerton's Babacar Camara and USC's Derrick Craven.
