COSTA MESA, Calif. – Julian Camper scored a career-high 25 points to lead the No. 4 Cal State San Marcos men's basketball team to a 79-71 victory over defending national champion Vanguard in the Cougars' regular season finale on Tuesday night at The Pit.
Camper went 11-of-15 from the field to secure his 17
th-straight game in double-digits and second-consecutive 20-plus scoring performance.
The Cougars wrap up the regular season at 26-3 overall and will await their seeding for Mar. 6-8's Association of Independent Institutions (A.I.I.) Conference Championship in Montgomery, W. Va. Vanguard drops to 16-13.
CSUSM never trailed in the contest and took a seven point advantage into halftime. VU closed to within two with 10:36 remaining, but a 3-pointer from
Tyson Kygar ignited an 8-0 run that gave the Cougars a comfortable advantage that they would not relinquish.
The Cougars shot a season-high 56.4-percent (31-of-55) as a team, while limiting the Lions to a 43.1-percent (28-of-65) clip.
Dayton Boddie and
Blake Nash each added 13 points, while
Declan Daly added eight on 3-of-3 shooting.
Tony Freeland, making his first appearance since Dec. 20, went 2-of-3 for five points while corralling three rebounds.
Nash had a team-high eight rebounds and matched
Akachi Okugo with a team-high seven assists.
