MONTGOMERY, W. Va. – The No. 1-seed Cal State San Marcos men's basketball team will play for the Association of Independent Institutions (A.I.I.) Conference title after taking down No. 4-seed Allen University (S.C.), 105-86, in the semifinals on Friday night at Neal Baisi Athletic Center.

The Cougars (27-3) will play host No. 2-seed West Virginia Tech (24-8) for the conference crown on Saturday at 1 p.m. PST after WVU Tech took down Washington Adventist, 104-75, in the opposite semifinal. Allen's season ends at 9-22 overall.

The winner of the CSUSM-WVU Tech final will receive the A.I.I.'s automatic berth to the NAIA Division I Men's Basketball National Championships in Kansas City, Mo. CSUSM, the defending A.I.I. champion, is seeking its third-consecutive trip to Kansas City.

Akachi Okugo led five CSUSM double-digit scorers with a game- and career-high 25 points. Okugo went 5-of-9 from the field, hit 3-of-5 3-pointers, and sunk a total of 12 free throws.
The Cougars trailed by four early on, but retook the lead five minutes in and did not lose it the rest of the way. A 3-pointer from Tyson Kygar gave the Cougars a three-possession lead and the Cougars would take a double-digit lead into the break thanks to back-to-back jumpers from Okugo and Tony Freeland.

Freeland, playing in just his second game after returning from nearly two months off due to injury, scored 11 points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.

Allen would cut the deficit to two early in the second stanza, but the Cougars held Allen scoreless for the next four minutes while going on a 10-0 run to nab a 76-54 lead with 9:56 to play.

A 3-pointer and dunk from Taran Brown followed by a fast-break layup from Okugo stretched the lead to 17 at the seven minute mark.

Allen would be able to get within just 12 the rest of the way.

Julian Camper had 15 points, Kygar added 12, and Nash had 11 with a game-high seven assists. Okugo dished out six assists.

CSUSM held Allen to 39.7-percent shooting on the night.

CSUSM and WVU Tech met in last year's semifinals in Georgia. The Cougars won, 77-70.