Box Score: Sonoma State 89, Cal State Monterey Bay 86 (ot)

SEASIDE, Calif- It was set up perfectly for sharpshooter Will Olsem to do what he does best. The sophomore guard, who came off the bench to score a season-high 24 points, nailed a three pointer with two seconds left in regulation to force overtime, where Sonoma State prevailed for the narrow 89-86 victory over Cal State Monterey Bay on Friday night at the Otter Sports Center.

The Seawolves pull even with the Otters in the CCAA standings at 7-12 (9-14 overall). Both teams sit in ninth place, a game behind Cal State Stanislaus (10-13, 8-11 CCAA), who is eighth in the conference race after a loss to Cal State San Bernardino on Friday night.

It wasn't a very good start to the game for the Seawolves in the game, as the Otters jumped out to a 11-0 lead in the first four minutes of the contest. Sonoma State, however, countered back with a 12-2 run to come within just one point at 13-12 at the 13:32 mark of the first half. Cal State Monterey Bay would hold onto the lead, though, and eventually extended the margin back out to 10 points at 28-18 at the nine minute mark.

In the game of runs, the Seawolves wouldn't go away, chipping the Otter lead down to three at 30-27 with 5:47 left. The narrow margin would be short-lived, though, as CSUMB went back out to a double-digit margin and led by 12 at halftime, 44-32.

In the second half, the Seawolves would get within four points on a couple of occasions, but it would be as close as they would get until a jumper by Steven Pratt with 1:52 on the clock got SSU down just one point at 68-67.

Cal State Monterey Bay's Davion Berry would then hit two free throws on their next possession, but a made free throw and a successful layup by #Ben Washington would knot the game at 70-70. The Otter lead would then teeter between one and two points, thanks to free throws by both teams. It would be a pair of free throws by CSUMB's Brandon Ward with eight ticks left on the clock that put the Otters up 74-71.

That's when Sonoma State put the ball in Olsem's hands. Steven Pratt ran down the floor, found Olsem open on the wing and Olsem nailed it, sending the game to overtime.

In the extra period, the game would go back and forth, but a three-ball by Patrick Scott would put the Seawolves up for good. SSU missed just one of seven shots from the field, helping to make the difference. Sonoma State nailed 34 of 68 shots in the game (50 percent), but Cal State Monterey Bay bested that mark, hitting 27 of 47 attempts for 57.4 percent.

Olsem hit on 9 of 15 shots from the field, including 4 of 8 from three-point range. James Sandoval scored 12 of his 20 points in the first half on 10 of 16 shooting. Washington (13) and Pratt (11) also scored in double-figures for Sonoma State. Thanks to Olsem's 24, the Seawolves' bench outscored the Otters bench, 38-8.

It was at the free throw line, though, that gave the Seawolves the biggest problem. The Otters converted 31 of 33 shots from the charity stripe (93.9 percent) while SSU hit on only 12 of 26 shots (46.2 percent) from the free throw line. CSUMB's Berry scored 14 of his game-high 25 points from the line. Warren Freeman scored 19 of his 21 points in the opening 20 minutes while Ward (16) and Derrick Anderson (10) chipped in with double-figures for Cal State Monterey Bay.

Sonoma State will travel north to San Francisco to face rival San Francisco State (14-9, 12-7 CCAA) on Saturday. Tip off from the Main Gymnasium is schueduled for 7:30 p.m. The Seawolves will then return home to close out the regular season schedule next week with games against Cal State L.A. (Wednesday) and Cal State Dominguez Hills (Friday). Both are set to begin at 7:30 p.m. at The Wolves' Den.