ROHNERT PARK, Calif. – The No. 19/19 Cal State San Marcos men's basketball team (16-4, 12-4 CCAA) earned an 84-59 victory over Sonoma State (3-24, 3-18 CCAA) in its penultimate game of the regular season on Thursday night at The Wolves' Den.
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TOP PERFORMERS
Blake Seits – 27 points | 5 rebounds | 5 steals
Greg Milton III – 16 points | 5 rebounds | 3 assists
Tyrone Nesby IV – 12 points | 5-of-6 FG
Joel Mensah – 10 points
Jayce McCain – 6 assists | 3 rebounds | 2 points
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HOW IT HAPPENED
- Down early at 15-7, the Cougars rattled off 11 consecutive points and took the lead for good at 18-15 with a 3-pointer by Nesby with 11:29 to go in the first half.
- CSUSM took a 41-33 lead to the locker room after 20 minutes of play.
- Blake Seits led the Cougars with 11 points at halftime as the team shot 57.7% (15-of-26) from the field while the Seawolves were nearly as accurate at 54.2% (13-of-24).
- A 3-pointer by SSU's Nick Klarman cut CSUSM's lead to 44-40 with 17:05 to play, but it ended up being the closest the Seawolves came to the Cougars' lead.
- CSUSM took a 20-point lead at 67-47 on a Seits 3-pointer with just over 10 minutes remaining. From that point, the Cougars retained a 20-plus point lead for the remainder of the half.
- The Cougars took their largest lead of the game with 1:28 remaining at 84-58 as Nesby got a layup to go off an SSU turnover.
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FAST BREAKS
- CSUSM retook third place in the CCAA standings as Cal State Monterey Bay fell 71-68 to Cal Poly Pomona.
- The Cougars ended the game shooting a season-best 58.5% (31-of-53) from the field while the Seawolves finished at 46.8% (22-of-47).
- CSUSM won the battle of the boards at 30-24 while also leading the way in assists (15-13) and steals (10-6).
- Seits' five steals and 11 made field goals were both career highs.
- This was the Cougars' fifth 20-plus point win of the season with the last being CSUSM's 33-point victory over the Seawolves on Jan. 8 at The Sports Center.
- CSUSM is now 8-3 in the all-time series against SSU and have won the last five games in the series.
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UP NEXT
CSUSM will close out the regular season on Saturday at Cal Poly Humboldt. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
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