Box Score OCEANSIDE, Calif. –The Cal State San Marcos men's basketball team made easy work of Fresno Pacific, 93-58, on Saturday night at MiraCosta College.

CSUSM (17-1) has won eight straight contests and all 12 home games this season. FPU, which is in Year 3 Candidacy for NCAA Division II, played the contest as an exhibition and remains at 5-7 on the year.

The Cougars held FPU to 28% shooting in the first half and increased their lead to as much as 29, 41-12, with five minutes remaining in the opening stanza. CSUSM used a 20-6 run over the previous 10 minutes to take its insurmountable lead.

"I thought we played well from the 15-minute mark on, so I'm pleased with that," said head coach Jim Saia.  "We're happy with the win and we took care of them early, that was the main thing."

Zack Zaragoza led the Cougars with 20 points, hitting five of his eight 3-point attempts.

Jason Johnson and De'End Parker had 14 points apiece. Parker dished out a game-high nine assists and was an efficient 5-of-7 from the floor.

Junior forward Khalil Murphy made his presence felt inside, corralling a team-high 10 rebounds in just 14 minutes of work. Five of his rebounds came on the offensive end and he even doled out a trio of assists.

"I'm pleased with the minutes we're getting from Khalil Murphy. He's rebounding the ball really well and I think he's going to be really important for us down the stretch because of his size and his ability to guard bigger guys when we play teams, hopefully, in the postseason," said Saia.

CSUSM faces a stiff task next week with a pair of Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) opponents on the slate.
 
"This is a big week for us and it'll allow us to see where we're at," said Saia. "We've got two GSAC NAIA Division I opponents and playing at Concordia is always tough. It's an important week. We'll see what we can do.'

The Master's College comes to town on Tuesday night, Jan. 7 (MiraCosta, 7:30 p.m.). TMC is also riding an eight-game winning streak and stands at 11-2 overall.

On Friday, Jan. 10, CSUSM heads up Interstate 5 to clash with No. 12 Concordia (Calif.) in Irvine at 7:00 p.m. The Cougars topped the Eagles for the first time ever earlier this season on Nov. 26 in Oceanside, 88-82, when CUI was ranked sixth. CSUSM has never beat CUI in Irvine. The Eagles are also on an eight-game winning streak and are 13-2 overall.