SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The No. 6/9 Cal State San Marcos men's basketball team (14-1, 10-1 CCAA) earned its 10th CCAA win of the season with a 75-68 victory over San Francisco State (8-10, 5-6 CCAA) on Thursday night at The Sports Center.
TOP PERFORMERS
Greg Milton III – 21 points | 5-of-9 3FG | 3 rebounds | 3 assists
Jayce McCain – 13 points | 4 rebounds | 2 assists | 2 steals
Lyle Sutton – 11 points | 3 steals
Alex Gil-Fernandez – 9 points | 4 assists | 4 rebounds
Sean Dunn – 8 points | 5 rebounds
HOW IT HAPPENED
- CSUSM took its largest lead of the first half at 19-10 as Sutton scored a layup off a turnover with 13:07 to go.
- SF State tied the game at 23-all on a Sean Orr 3-pointer, but CSUSM responded with a trey of its own from the hands of Milton at the 6:03 mark of the first half.
- A McCain jumper at the end of the half sent the Cougars to the locker room with a 37-29 lead.
- CSUSM shot 48.3% (14-of-29) from the field in the opening half while the Gators put in a 42.3% (11-of-26) performance.
- Milton led all scorers in the opening 20 minutes with 16 points, 12 of which came from behind the 3-point line.
- After Blake Seits opened the second half with a jumper to make it 39-29, the Gators stormed back with a 14-4 run and evened the game at 43-all on a 3-pointer by Jalen Flanagan at the 15:14 mark.
- A driving layup by Toby Okwuokei gave SF State its lone 36-second lead of the night at 45-43 with 14:45 to go.
- CSUSM used a 14-2 run to take its largest lead of the contest at 58-47 on a second-chance bucket by Gil-Fernandez with 8:35 remaining.
- The Gators were able to bring the Cougars' lead down to five points at 69-64 after Jacob Huynh made both of his free throws with 2:35 left in the period.
- SF State was not able to get any closer to CSUSM's lead as a McCain drained both of his free throws with 24 seconds remaining to put the Cougars up 75-68.
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FAST BREAKS
- With the win, CSUSM remained undefeated at home this season with a 9-0 record.
- The Cougars are now 5-6 in the all-time series against the Gators and are 2-4 when playing at home.
- CSUSM upped its winning streak over SF State to three games.
- This was the Cougars' first victory over the Gators at The Sports Center since New Year's Eve of 2017.
- The Gator's 68 points were the second fewest in series history.
- CSUSM ended the game shooting 50% (29-of-58) from the field while SF State came in at 44.4% (24-of-54).
- Sutton's 11 points and five made goals were both career highs.
- The Cougars scored 15 points off fast breaks compared to the Gators' two.
- CSUSM had 25 of its points come from the bench while SF State only had six.
- The Cougars tallied more steals than their opponent for the eighth consecutive game and have had the advantage in all but one game this season.
- CSUSM kept control of first place in the CCAA standings with a .909 winning percentage.
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UP NEXT
The Cougars will close out the week by hosting Cal State Monterey Bay on Saturday at 3 p.m.
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