ARCATA, Calif. – A strong first half set the tempo for the Cal State San Marcos men's basketball team as it handed third-place Humboldt State its first home loss of the season with a 91-72 victory in California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) play on Thursday night at Lumberjack Arena.
 
TOP PERFORMERS
Dalton Soffer – 23 points | 5-of-8 from three
Darae Elliott – 20 points | 9 rebounds
JR Williams – 16 points | 5 steals
Khalil Fuller – 10 points
Bryce Sloan – 9 assists | 8 points
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• CSUSM went to the locker room with its largest halftime lead of the season at 41-29.
• Soffer led the Cougars with 15 points in the first 20 minutes as he went 5-of-6 from beyond the arc.
• CSUSM shot 59.3 percent (16-of-27) from the field in the first half while holding HSU to 35.7 percent (10-of-28).
• Only 12 of the Cougars' 41 points in the first half came in the paint as CSUSM was 8-of-13 (61.5%) from downtown.
• HSU only got within five points of CSUSM's lead in the second half on three separate occasions.
• The Cougars posted their largest lead of the game at 90-68 after a layup by Patrick Sniff.
• CSUSM led for just over 38 minutes while HSU only led for 25 seconds.

 
FAST BREAKS

• CSUSM improves to 5-13 (2-10 CCAA) while HSU drops to 14-7 (8-5 CCAA).
• The Cougars set season highs for points (91), field-goal percentage (52.6), 3-point field-goal percentage (58.8) and assists (18) while tying their high for rebounds (41).
• This is CSUSM's second consecutive win over HSU in Arcata.
• The Cougars' starting five accounted for 77 of the team's 91 points while only 30 points were scored in the paint.
• Sloan set a career high for assists as he finished with nine.
• Soffer's 23 points and five 3-point field goals made were a career high.
• Williams tied his season high for steals with five.

 
UP NEXT
CSUSM will conclude its three-week road trip on Saturday night at Chico State. Tipoff is slated for 7:30 p.m.