SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The No. 14/14 Cal State San Marcos men's basketball team (15-3, 11-3 CCAA) began its final homestand of the regular season with a 66-52 victory over Stanislaus State (7-13, 4-11 CCAA) on Thursday night at The Sports Center.

TOP PERFORMERS
Blake Seits – 19 points | 5-of-11 FG | 3 rebounds
Greg Milton III – 17 points | 5 rebounds
Alex Gil-Fernandez – 10 points | 8 rebounds | 4 steals
Chase Bowsher – 10 points | 4-of-4 FG

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Cougars jumped out to a 16-4 lead in the first 10 minutes of the game.
• A Bowsher layup at the 1:43 mark of the first half gave CSUSM its largest lead of the half at 27-8.
• The Warriors scored five consecutive points to end the half with the Cougars out front 27-13.
• The Cougars led the entire first half after shooting 39.3% (11-28) from the field and held the Warriors to just 24% (6-of-25).
• The Warriors recorded 11 turnovers while only collecting 1 steal in the entire first half. The Cougars scored 17 of their 27 points off Stan State's 11 miscues.
• Stan State scored 11 unanswered points capped by a Will Pallesi 3-pointer at the 13:33 mark to close CSUSM's lead to 32-27 in the second half.
• A Milton pump-fake 3-pointer at the 5:29 mark gave CSUSM a 17-point cushion (59-44).
• Two good free throws by Seits with 3:12 to go gave the Cougars their largest lead of the half at 62-44.
• CSUSM kept a 14-point cushion between it and Stan State for the remaining time.

FAST BREAKS

• Stan State's 13 points in the first half were the lowest an opponent has scored against the Cougars in program history.
• The last time CSUSM held an opponent under 20 points in the first half was in the 79-41 win over Cal State Dominguez Hills this season when the Cougars limited the Toros to just 19 points.
• The Cougars' 40% (8-of-20) mark from beyond the arc was their fourth-best performance of the season.
• For the 17th time this season, CSUSM recorded more steals than its opponent with an 11-4 margin.
• With his four 3-pointers, Seits moved to second on the program's all-time list with 124 and is 16 back of Tyson Kygar's (2014-15, 2016-17) record of 140.
• CSUSM is now 7-3 in the all-time series against Stan State and is 4-1 when playing at home.
• This was the Cougars' second consecutive win over the Warriors dating back to Jan. 30, 2020.
• CSUSM moved back into third place in the CCAA standings as Cal State Monterey Bay lost on Thursday to Cal State Dominguez Hills.
• A win against Chico State on Saturday would move CSUSM back into second place with two games to go.

 
UP NEXT
No. 14/14 CSUSM will conclude its home schedule on Saturday against No. 11/10 Chico State at 3 p.m. Prior to the game, the Cougars will honor their four seniors – Sean Dunn, Alex Gil-Fernandez, Blake Seits and Lyle Sutton.