SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – The No. 9/6 and top-seeded Cal State San Marcos men's basketball team's historical season came to an end on Friday night as the Cougars fell 70-63 to eighth-seeded Alaska in the opening round of the NCAA Division II West Regional at Coussoulis Arena.
 
TOP PERFORMERS
Jayce McCain – 16 points | 3 steals
Lyle Sutton – 14 points | 5-of-10 FG | 3 assists
Blake Seits – 12 points | 5 rebounds | 2 assists
Greg Milton III – 12 points | 5 rebounds

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Alaska jumped out to an early lead at 14-6 on a Koby Huerta 3-pointer at the 14:05 mark.
• The Cougars closed the gap to 18-15 on a Milton layup with 8:32 remaining in the first half.
• Back-to-back 3-pointers by Shadeed Shabazz gave Alaska a 30-19 lead at 2:37.
• The Nanooks took their largest lead of the half with 29 seconds on the clock after Coleman Sparling sunk a 3-pointer to make it 37-20.
• Seits answerd with a 3-pointer of his own with two second left to cut it down to 37-23 at the halftime break.
• The Cougars shot just 31% (9-of-29) from the field and 9.1% (1-of-11) from behind the arch.
• Consecutive 3-pointers by McCain and Sutton cut Alaska's lead to 53-50 with 9:10 remaining.
• A Joel Mensah free throw made it a 2-point ballgame at 53-51 with eight minutes remaining.
• Seits layup off a turnover evened the game at 53-all with 7:27 on the clock.
• The Cougars would go on and tie the game two more times in the span of five minutes but were never able to take the lead.
• Schabazz scored seven of the last nine Alaska points to finish with 35 on the night and clinched the victory for the Nanooks.

FAST BREAKS

• This was CSUSM's first appearance in the NCAA West Regional.
• The Cougars received the automatic bid after winning the CCAA Tournament last weekend, a first for the program.
• CSUSM was outrebounded by its largest margin of the season at 42-23.
• The Cougars ended the night shooting 40.3% (25-of-62) from the field after turning in a 48.5% (16-of-33) mark in the second half.
• Alaska's 46.2% 3-point field-goal percentage was the highest an opponent has shot this season against the Cougars.
• CSUSM is now 1-1 in the all-time series against Alaska with both games being played at neutral sites.