OCEANSIDE, Calif. – The No. 2 Cal State San Marcos men's basketball team trailed by 20 points with 6:41 remaining in regulation, but the Cougars rallied to force two overtimes and eventually overcame Northern New Mexico, 100-91, Saturday night in Association of Independent Institutions play at MiraCosta College.

Walid Ahmed's jumper handed NNMC (12-10, 2-1 A.I.I.) a 70-50 advantage, but CSUSM (20-2, 2-0 A.I.I.) would go on a 27-5 run over the next 4:49 to take a two-point lead, 77-75, with 1:52 remaining. It appeared CSUSM would escape in regulation, but Eric Garcia's tip-in at the buzzer forced overtime.

NNMC went without a bucket for the first three minutes of the first overtime period, but hit 3-pointers on three straight trips down the court to take a three-point lead with under a minute left. Tyson Kygar missed a pair of free throws that would have cut the CSUSM deficit to one; however, Wade Collie collected the offensive rebound before stepping back and burying a 3-pointer that forced a second overtime with the score tied, 88-88.

NNMC was able to muster just one basket in the second overtime, a 3-pointer from Christian Barraza at the 2:29 mark the pulled the Eagles within two, but a jumper from the elbow by Collie and a dagger of a 3-pointer by Taran Brown with 45 seconds remaining handed CSUSM a seven-point lead that NNMC could not come back from.

Collie led the Cougars with 21 points and a career-high 15 rebounds, his second double-double of the season, scoring 10 points in the 27-5 run late in the second half. Julian Camper contributed 17 points, going 6-of-10 from inside. Brown, Kygar and Akachi Okugo each had 14 and hit a trio of 3-pointers apiece.

NNMC was paced by 27 points from Ahmed and 25 points from Gabriel Martinez, but the Eagles shot just 33.3-percent in the extra sessions and went a paltry 14-of-30 for the game from the charity stripe.

CSUSM trailed by seven at the break, 37-30, buried by an 8-0 run to close the half by the Eagles.

The Cougars could not gain any traction in the second half and a 10-2 spurt from NNMC made the game appear out of reach, as CSUSM found itself facing its biggest deficit of the season.

But just like that, Collie hit a jumper and drained a 3-pointer on consecutive possessions. Okugo then jumped in front of a careless pass by Garcia directly under the NNMC hoop before making a layup and drawing a foul. After Okugo's 3-point play, Collie knocked down his second 3-pointer from the left baseline to pull CSUSM within nine with 4:49 left.

CSUSM had cut the deficit in half in a 1:52 span.

Okugo answered a NNMC 3-pointer with one of his own to keep the deficit at nine before Kygar took over.

He nailed a 3-pointer from the left elbow after Brown corralled an offensive rebound on Kygar's free throw miss. The Cougars forced a turnover, and Kygar drained another from the exact same spot.

A pair of free throws put NNMC up four, but Kygar answered by crossing over his defender for an uncontested left-handed layup that pulled CSUSM within two.

NNMC air-balled a 3-pointer and Collie was fouled on the long rebound. He made both ends of a 1-and-1 to pull the Cougars even, 75-75, with 1:59 on the clock.

Camper then drew an offensive foul that forced a NNMC timeout. Head coach Jim Saia then drew up a play for Camper on the left block. He missed his first attempt, but bodied his defender off the ball on the rebound before flipping it back up and in. CSUSM led 77-75 with 1:52 left, its first lead since the 1:53 mark of the opening stanza.

NNMC and CSUSM came up dry on their next two trips down the floor, and it appeared as if NNMC would be forced to put the Cougars on the line in order to extend the game. However, instead of waiting for the foul, Collie drove the ball with 20 seconds remaining and was called for an offensive foul when he collided with a planted Garcia under the basket.

Garcia was fouled after Martinez missed a 3-point attempt, but only made 1-of-2. Brown then went to the line and made 1-of-2 to give CSUSM a two-point lead with 5.1 seconds left.

Out of a timeout, Ahmed drove the lane and missed a layup thanks to good defense by Brown, but Garcia came in untouched and tipped the ball into the hoop as the horn sounded. The referees came together and decided the basket was good, pushing the game to overtime.

Camper provided the first overtime's only points for the first two minutes, making 3-of-4 from the stripe in his two trips to the line. Brown added a layup to make the Cougar lead four, but Barraza answered with a 3-pointer to pull within one.

NNMC retook the lead on Ahmed's 3-pointer after a Brown miss. Collie answered right back with a jumper from the right baseline to tie the game. Martinez nailed a 3-pointer to make it 88-85.

Kygar was fouled, but the sharpshooter missed both of his free throw attempts. Brown contested the rebound and the ball bounced out to Collie. Collie took a dribble, jumped back and buried a 3-pointer from the right corner that made it 88-88.

NNMC let the clock trickle down, but Martinez's jumper was no good at the buzzer.

Kygar opened the second OT with a 3-pointer before Collie hit another jumper to push the lead to five. Barraza hit a 3-pointer with 2:29 remaining, but it would be the last bucket for the Eagles.

Collie hit another in the paint, and Brown put the nail in the coffin with a 3-pointer with less than a minute left that made it 98-91.

Okugo iced it with a pair of free throws that put the Cougars at the century mark for the first time this season.

The Cougars face The Master's College on the road this Wednesday, Feb. 4 at 5:30 p.m. CSUSM's final home game of the season is on February 7 against No. 12 Concordia. Five Cougar seniors – Blake Nash, Jacob Andersson, Wade Collie, Steele Sylte and Julian Camper – will be honored for their service to the team prior to the 7:30 p.m. tip.