Cal State Fullerton 83, Cal State Northridge 68

3/15/2008 12:08 AM

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -Josh Akognon scored 24 points to lead Cal State Fullerton to 83-68 victory over second-seeded Cal State Northridge Friday night in the Big West Conference tournament.

The third-seeded Titans (23-8) will now play fifth-seeded UC Irvine (18-15) for the conference title on Saturday, marking the first time since 2003 that either a No. 1 or No. 2 seed didn't advance to the finals.

Co-Big West Conference player of the year Scott Cutley had 17 points for the Titans, who will be making their fourth appearance in the conference championship game, while Frank Robinson added 15 points and 11 rebounds.

Fullerton dominated the up-tempo game between the top-two scoring teams in the conference from the start and led by as many as 23.

Four players scored in double-figures for Fullerton, which shot 50 percent from the field.

Tremaine Townsend led Northridge with 16 points and 16 rebounds and all-Big West first team selection Jonathan Heard was held to just six points for Northridge, which ends its season 20-10.

Irvine led by as many as 20 in the first half before Northridge made a mini-run that cut their advantage to 12.

But the Anteaters answered with Robinson's dunk in transition and catch-and-shoot 3-pointers from Marcus Crenshaw and Akognon for a 46-28 halftime lead.

The Titans made 6-of-9 3-pointers in the opening 20 minutes while the Matadors made just one of nine attempts from behind the arc.

The two teams split their regular season series against each other with each team winning by eight.