SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The No. 6/9 Cal State San Marcos men's basketball team (14-2, 10-2 CCAA) took its first home loss of the season as it fell 71-69 to Cal State Monterey Bay (9-5, 8-3 CCAA) on Saturday at The Sports Center.

TOP PERFORMERS
Greg Milton III – 18 points | 5 rebounds
Jayce McCain – 12 points | 7 rebounds | 5 assists
Blake Seits – 10 points | 2-of-3 3FG
Alex Gil-Fernandez – 10 points | 3 rebounds

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Otters got out to an early lead at 15-6 at the 14:23 mark.
• The Cougars chipped away at CSUMB's lead until they came within one point (32-31) on a Gil-Fernandez layup at the 1:43 mark of the first half.
• CSUMB closed out the first half with five unanswered points to take a 37-31 lead into the locker room.
• The Cougars were outrebounded 21-14 in the opening half but only committed four turnovers to CSUMB's 10.
• The Otters took a 13-point lead at 58-45 as Noah Stapes drained a 3-pointer with 11:37 to play.
• Down 10 with 1:28 to go after CSUMB's Andrew Ferguson made a jumper, a 3-pointer by Seits and two good free throws by Lyle Sutton put the Cougars within striking distance at 67-62 with 53 seconds remaining.
• A 3-pointer by Seits from in front of the bench made it 69-65 with 33.8 seconds remaining in the game.
• CSUMB's Jailen Nelson made one of his two free throws to make it 70-65.
• Seits took the ball to the bucket to put the Cougars to within three with 20 seconds on the clock.
• After the Otters' J.R. Schilling missed a free throw, Milton made a layup to make it 70-69 with nine seconds remaining.
• CSUMB's Ferguson made the first of two free throws with 1.2 seconds remaining, but CSUSM didn't have enough time left to make a shot off the defensive rebound.

 
FAST BREAKS

• For the first time this season, the Cougars never had a lead.
• The Otters ended the game shooting 46.4% (26-of-56) from the field while holding the Cougars to 39.4% (26-of-66).
• CSUSM committed 11 fewer turnovers than CSUMB (19-8).
• The Otters doubled up on assists against the Cougars with a 16-8 margin and outrebounded CSUSM 40-32.
• CSUSM had the advantage in points off turnovers (23-5), points in the paint (38-20), second-chance points (12-3) and fast-break points (16-7).
• This is the second consecutive season the Cougars and Otters have split the season series.
• CSUSM still owns a 7-3 lead in the all-time series and is 4-1 against CSUMB at The Sports Center.

 
UP NEXT
The Cougars take to the road with a trip up to Cal State East Bay on Thursday for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff.