ESPANOLA, N.M. – The No. 1 Cal State San Marcos men's basketball team increased its winning streak to nine games with an 84-79 victory over McMurry in the Cougars' opening game of the three-day Northern New Mexico Classic.
The Cougars improve to 23-2 overall while McMurry drops to 9-15.
Four CSUSM players finished in double-digits, led by
Taran Brown's 18 points on 5-of-9 shooting from behind the arc.
Tyson Kygar hit four 3-pointers on his way to a 14-point night,
Akachi Okugo had 12 and
Julian Camper went 5-of-7 for 10 points.
Blake Nash doled out a game-high six assists and Okugo added five.
The War Hawks led by 10 points with a little over six minutes left in the game, but the Cougars whittled the lead down to a possession with 2:24 left to play.
A 7-0 stretch put the Cougars ahead, 78-72, with 1:32 to play.
McM would pull within 78-76, but a three-ball from Brown with 22 seconds left put the Cougars ahead by five and essentially put the game away.
CSUSM faces Northern New Mexico at 6 p.m. on Friday night.
