past five years, it speaks volumes of our program and it speaks volumes for the guys in that locker room,” said Fullerton coach Dedrique Taylor, who was hired in March of 2013. “Not just this team, but previous teams, all the way back to when we started. Those guys built something for us and these guys are just continuing the tradition.”

The Titans received a solid performance from junior shooting guard Max Jones, who finished with 18 points on 8-for-13 from the floor. Tory San Antonio contributed 15 points and nine rebounds and Latrell Wrightsell Jr. also scored 15, but was just 6-for-17 from the floor.

Playing for the third time in three days, the Titans did not receive any points from their reserves.

“I don’t know that this group had enough to contend with Santa Barbara’s depth,” Taylor said. “A lot of plays that we would normally make, they didn’t go our way tonight.”

The Titans took their last lead 50-49 on a jump shot by Wrightsell with 7:39 left. Mitchell put the Gauchos right back ahead with the 16th and final lead change of the game.

Cal State Fullerton was still within one point with five minutes left when Mitchell scored six points in an 8-0 run that put Santa Barbara ahead 63-54 with 2:10 left.

The Gauchos (27-7) went 6-for-8 from the line in the final minute to hold off the Titans.

Jones scored seven points in a 9-0 run that gave the Titans an early 9-3 lead.

Taylor said Jones didn’t get enough credit during the season for being the impact player that he’s been.

“For the coaches to vote him honorable mention is extremely disrespectful, but it’s on par with how the other coaches treat us in this conference,” Taylor said. “Max is a helluva player. Not just tonight, but throughout the whole year. He might not show up in the stats, but what he does on the floor, it’s unbelievable what he does in terms of his impact and his contributions to our ballclub and to our program. We’re not where we are without him. Not tonight and not throughout the course of this season.”

Wrightsell went to the bench with his second foul with 12:12 remaining in the opening half, and Jones picked up his second foul with 11:04 remaining, but he stayed in the game.

Wrightsell returned with about seven minutes left and hit a floater to give Fullerton a 21-20 lead.

The Gauchos put together an 8-0 run to take their biggest lead of the opening half at 30-24 with 2:26 remaining.

Jalen Harris hit the only 3-pointer of the first half on seven attempts for the Titans to cut the lead to three, and Wrightsell went end-to-end after stealing a pass to cut the deficit to 32-31 with a minute left.

Taylor said he was proud of the way the Titans shook off the rust and won two difficult games to reach the final. Two of their final three games were cancelled because their opponent could not field enough healthy players, so Fullerton played one game in 17 days before the tournament.

“What these guys have endured the last 17-20 days, only playing one game, and then being in the championship game of this conference tournament, speaks volumes about the character that’s in that locker room,” Taylor said. “It speaks volumes about the leadership that’s in that room. I can’t say enough words about what this group has done.”