SAN MARCOS, Calif. – A pair of 22-point performances from Jayce McCain and Blake Seits led the Cal State San Marcos men's basketball team to a 78-76 win over Cal State LA on Thursday night in California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) play at The Sports Center.
 
TOP PERFORMERS
Jayce McCain – 22 points | 9-of-12 FG | 5 rebounds | 5 assists
Blake Seits – 22 points | 5-of-8 3FG | 4 rebounds | 4 steals
Khalil Fuller – 12 points | 9 rebounds
Marcus Brown – 10 points | 3 rebounds | 2 assists
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• After CSUSM began the game with a 5-2 lead, CSULA took a 12-6 lead at 15:39 with a Ja'Sean Lewis three.
• Two good free throws by Alex Gil-Fernandez knotted the game at 18-all with 10:45 to go in the half.
• The Cougars took their largest lead of the half at 35-31 with 3:38 to go on a free throw by Fuller.
• With CSUSM up 37-33, CSULA used a 6-2 run to knot the game at 39-all with 34 seconds remaining on a Sean Estes three.
• McCain nailed a three from the corner at the buzzer to give CSUSM a 42-39 lead at halftime.
• McCain led the half with 12 points as he went 5-of-6 from the field and 2-of-3 from beyond the arc.
• CSUSM went 12-of-24 (50%) from the field in the first half while CSULA went 14-of-30 (46.7%) from the field and 8-of-16 (50%) from three.
• After the Cougars began the second half with a 44-39 lead, the Golden Eagles went on a 15-0 run to go up 54-44 with 14:55 to go.
• CSUSM used a 15-4 run of their own to retake the lead at 59-58 on a three by Seits with 9:44 remaining.
• A Gil-Fernandez layup with 6:50 to go put the Cougars up 69-61.
• CSULA scored six unanswered points to cut the deficit to 69-67 at the 4:22 mark.
• A jumper by McCain with 1:45 remaining put CSUSM up 76-69.
• The Golden Eagles' Michael Wright posted a layup with 33 seconds to go to decrease the deficit to 76-74.
• After McCain sank both free throws with 12 seconds on the clock to give CSUSM a four-point lead, Wright made a layup with 1.9 to go to make it 78-76.
• Seits missed a free throw to drain the remaining time and hand CSUSM the victory.

 
FAST BREAKS

• CSUSM improves to 12-12 (8-10 CCAA) while Cal State LA drops to 11-12 (6-11 CCAA).
• The Cougars scored 19 points from the charity stripe – their second most of the season.
• McCain's 22 points tied his season high at home against then-No. 20 Cal Poly Pomona on Jan. 18 while his nine made field goals were a season high.
• CSUSM finished the game shooting 46.3% (25-of-54) while CSULA shot an even 50% (28-of-56).
• Twenty of the Cougars' points came off turnovers.
• Seits' 74 threes for the year now rank sixth for a single season at CSUSM.
• The Cougars are still in seventh place in the CCAA standings and now have a 2.5-game cushion over the Golden Eagles, Cal State Dominguez Hills and Cal State Monterey Bay, who are all in a three-way tie for eighth.
• CSUSM now owns a 3-2 lead over CSULA when playing at The Sports Center and is 4-5 in the all-time series.
• The Cougars and Golden Eagles have now split the season series for four consecutive seasons.
• This was the fourth time in nine meetings that CSUSM and CSULA have had a two-point game against each other.

 

Jayce McCain talks about how the team handles a game with lots of lead changes, which resulted in a win over CSULA.#BleedBlue #goCCAA #NCAAd2 pic.twitter.com/WwxSpPtePv

— CSUSM Men's Basketball (@CSUSM_MBB) February 14, 2020

Head Coach B.J. Foster contributes tonight's win over CSULA to the team's desire to keep competing for the entire game. #BleedBlue #goCCAA #NCAAd2 pic.twitter.com/WD0pRY8KTC

— CSUSM Men's Basketball (@CSUSM_MBB) February 14, 2020

 
UP NEXT
CSUSM will host Cal State Dominguez Hills in its next-to-last home game of the season at The Sports Center on Saturday at 3 p.m.