The men’s basketball team started their season with a loss, 78-58, in an exhibition against Cal State Fullerton at the Titan’s gym on Tuesday night.

Even so, it’s not every year that the basketball team gets to take on an NCAA Division 1 opponent. Indeed it is a rare opportunity to be matched up against a team that has made it so far as the Elite Eight in the NCAA March Madness Tournament, as Fullerton did in 1978.

And though they haven’t been back since, they still rank high while competing in the Big West Conference.

But the Eagles did leave Tuesday night with a number of positive results. For one, the Eagles trailed by a mere four points going into the half.

They came back from an early 14 point deficit to come within two points on a number of occasions. They came close as sophomore Andrew Schroeder opened up the second half with a shot to make it 35-33, but that would be the closest the men would get as the Titan offense took over from there.

Fullerton opened the second half of play by going on a 21-8 run. The Titans were led by Josh Akogon’s 21 point night. Akogon was hardly alone as teammate Frank Robinson tacked on 15 of his own.

The Eagles were led by freshman guard Luke Duperron who scored 17 points off the bench. Forwards senior Danny Jones and sophomore Rocky Hampton scored nine each while Jones led both teams with ten rebounds.

Overall, the men proved they could compete, but their 23 offensive turnovers and 2-14 shooting from behind the arc indicated that there is room for improvement.

Schroeder, who scored seven points on the night, said the loss was a learning experience.

“They are a great team and a good test for us,” Schroeder said. “We competed well, and we can learn a lot from this game that we can use to make us better for the season ahead.”

The Eagles have time to improve for their next game on Nov. 16 when they head to Carroll, Mont. for the Carroll College Tournament.