SAN DIEGO – Battling to the very end, the sixth-seeded Cal State San Marcos men's basketball team (20-11) saw its season come conclude as it fell 67-61 to second-seeded No. 6/8 Cal State San Bernardino (29-3) in the semifinals of the NCAA West Regional on Saturday night at Point Loma's Golden Gymnasium.
 
TOP PERFORMERS
Quinn Denker – 24 points | 6 assists
Jayce McCain – 13 points | 3 assists | 2 steals
Greg Milton III – 9 points | 9 rebounds | 3 assists | 3 steals
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• CSUSB was hot out of the gate with a 9-1 run to begin the game in the first three minutes before a CSUSM timeout.
• CSUSM then went on a 5-0 run with floating jumper by Denker and an old-fashioned 3-point play by Mensah to make it 9-6 before the media timeout with 15:51.
• After the timeout, Milton banked in a 3-point attempt to continue the 8-0 run and knot the game at 9-all at the 15:03 mark of the period.
• The Cougars went on a 7-2 run and went up 16-11 on a driving layup with 12:30 to go in the half.
• The Yotes tied the game at 16 with a pull-up jumper by Brandon Knapper and 3-pointer by Kaijae Yee-Stephens with 10:52 remaining in the half.
• With CSUSM up 23-19 after a Denker 3-pointer with 8:06 to go in the period, CSUSB went on a 9-0 run to go up 28-23 on an Eddie Davis layup with 1:38 left in the first 20 minutes.
• The Cougars shot 25.7% (9-of-35) from the field in the first half while the Yotes shot 37.9% (11-of-29).
• CSUSB was able to score 10 points off CSUSM's seven first-half turnovers.
• The Cougars won the first-half rebounding battle at 24-22.
• The Yotes upped their run out of the break to 15-0 and took a 34-23 lead on a pull-up jumper by Dontrell Shuler with 18:11 remaining in the game, forcing a CSUSM timeout.
• A Lyle Sutton 3-pointer finally ended CSUSB's run on the next possession and cut the deficit to 34-26 with 17:57 to go.
• Trailing 41-30 with 14:24 to go, CSUSM went on an 8-0 run to cut CSUSB's lead to 41-38 on a Denker free throw with 12:33 remaining.
• The Yotes then went on a 15-4 run of their own to go up by 14 at 56-42 on a Shuler free throw with 6:11 left.
• Soon after, the Cougars clawed their way back into the game with a 12-0 run that was capped by a McCain 3-pointer to make it 57-55 with 3:40 to go.
• Still a two-point game at 63-61 with 50 seconds remaining, CSUSB didn't allow another CSUSM point and soon took a 67-61 lead on a driving layup by Shuler and two free throws by Knapper.

 
FAST BREAKS

• Denker was named to the All-West Regional Tournament Team.
• McCain ended his collegiate career by tying the CSUSM career steals record at 147.
• This was Denker's fourth consecutive game leading CSUSM in scoring as he led all players with 24. All four of the games were with 24 or more points.
• Denker's six assists tied his career high.
• CSUSM ended the game with nine turnovers, committing just two in the second half. CSUSB tallied 16 for the game.
• CSUSM tallied a season-high five blocks for the second consecutive game, but CSUSB tallied 10.
• The Cougars ended the game shooting 35.7% (25-of-70) while the Yotes came in at 42.6% (23-of-54).
• The Cougars' 70 field-goal attempts were the second most of the season.
• CSUSM was slightly better from 3-point range at 38.9% (7-of-18) compared to CSUSB's 36.8% (7-of-19).
• The Yotes went to the free throw line 20 times, making 14 (70%).
• The Cougars were outrebounded by a 46-34 margin.
• CSUSM had a 7-2 advantage in the steals department.