SAN MARCOS, Calif. – Trailing by as many as 14 points with 15 minutes to play in the second half, the Cal State San Marcos men's basketball team (2-5, 1-2 CCAA) came roaring back to earn a 62-57 win over Cal Poly Humboldt (2-5, 0-3 CCAA) while earning their first conference victory of the season on Thursday night at The Sports Center.
 
TOP PERFORMERS
Charlie Henderson – 15 points | 7 rebounds | 3 steals
Edwyn Collins – 13 points | 4 assists | 3 rebounds | 2 steals
Camren Pierce – 11 points | 5 assists | 2 steals
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Cougars opened the game with back-to-back 3-pointers by Max Tengan and Jayden White.
• The Lumberjacks evened the game at 12-all on a Brandon Bento-Jackson 3-pointer at 12:55 in the first half.
• The teams traded leads until Humboldt put together a 12-2 run capped by a Pejan Slater layup at the 7:02 mark of the period to make it 26-17.
• The Lumberjacks took a 32-23 lead into halftime after shooting 45.5% (10-of-22) from the field while CSUSM posted a 33.3% field-goal percentage (9-of-27).
• CSUSM scored nine of their first half points off turnovers while the Lumberjacks scored zero.
• The Lumberjacks outrebounded CSUSM 22-11 in the first 20 minutes.
• Humboldt began the second half on a 5-0 run and took their largest lead of the game at 37-23 following an Emanuel Steward free throw with 18:38 to play.
• With the Lumberjack still up by 14 with 14:47 to play, a driving layup by Collins and a pair of Jack Shultz 3-pointers cut Humboldt's lead to 39-33 at the 13:23 mark of the second half.
• A Uriah Foster dunk made it a four-point game (41-37) with 12:11 on the clock.
• After a pair of Humboldt free throws made it a six-point game at 43-37, a 6-0 run consisting of a Mike Pope 3-pointer and an old-fashioned 3-point play by Pierce evened the game at 43-all with 9:43 to play.
• Trailing 47-43 after a layup by Humboldt's Jordahn Johson, CSUSM took the lead for good with a 13-0 run and went up 56-47 after a layup by Collins with 2:39 to play.
• A 3-pointer by Humboldt's Bento-Jackson cut CSUSM's lead to 58-55 with 1:19 on the clock.
• A give-and-go with Pope dishing the ball to Henderson for a layup made it 60-55 with 57 ticks remaining.
• After Steward made a second-chance layup for the Lumberjacks to cut the Cougars' lead to 60-57 with 35 seconds remaining, Pierce made the game's final basket on a layup with 10 seconds remaining to go up 62-57.

 
FAST BREAKS

• CSUSM ended the game shooting 42.6% (23-of-54) while Humboldt finished at 39.6% (19-of-48).
• CSUSM scored 17 points off Humboldt's 17 turnovers. The Lumberjacks' turnover total was the second highest by a Cougar opponent this season while CSUSM's 10 turnovers tied for its second lowest.
• Henderson's game-leading 15 points led the Cougars in scoring for the third consecutive game and the fourth time this season.
• CSUSM's 15 assists tied for its second most in a game this season while Humboldt tallied six.
• The Lumberjacks outrebounded the Cougars, 40-29.
• This was CSUSM's fourth consecutive win over Humboldt and was the sixth victory in the last seven games.
• Each of the past three games between the Cougars and Lumberjacks have ended in a five-point win for CSUSM.
• CSUSM is now 9-5 in the all-time series against Humboldt.

 
UP NEXT
CSUSM will end its six-game homestand on Saturday as it faces No. 10 Chico State at 3 p.m. in The Sports Center.