ROHNERT PARK -- Riding a three-game win streak after falling in their 2012-13 season opener back on Nov. 16, the Sonoma State men's basketball team will look to continue their winning ways this week against Bay Area-rival San Francisco State in a home-and-home series. The Seawolves and Gators will face off on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in The Wolves' Den before the two teams head south on Saturday to the The Swamp on the campus of San Francisco State for a special 4:00 p.m. start time.
SEAWOLF SPORTS NETWORK LIVE: Tim Davidson and Corey Neal will have the call on Seawolf Spots Network Wednesday night from The Wolves' Den. Links to the live video broadcast, as well as live stats, are located below. Tip off is set for 7:30 p.m. Saturday's game at San Francisco State will have just live stats available.
SEAWOLVES SINK OTTERS IN CCAA OPENER: Sonoma State turned on the offense on Friday night against Cal State Monterey Bay, winning handedly in a 92-77 beating of the Otters. The Seawolves had the hot hand all night long as they shot 59 percent from the field and 56 percent from beyond the three-point arc.
Patrick Scott led all scorers with his career-high tying 28 points, while
Jason Walter and
Will Olsem pitched in with 13 each. Olsem, who was playing in his 85th game as a Seawolf on Friday night, sunk his 215th three-pointer on his second shot of the night, making him the new record holder for most three-pointers made in a career, surpassing former SSU student-athlete Andrew Kochevar (214). Olsem drained two more long-range shots to put him at 217 three-pointers in his four-year career. Junior transfer
Emmanuel Bradford also impressed in his first ever CCAA contest, netting 11 points while turning the ball over twice in 27 minutes of play. The Otters' Brandon Ward threw in 17 points in the loss.
GLANZ'S BUZZER-BEATERS (YES, PLURAL) STUN PIONEERS: Saturday night's game against the Pioneers of Cal State East Bay was a different story for the Seawolves. After looking sluggish in the first half, Sonoma State was only down by seven points at halfway mark, despite turning the ball over 15 times. However, SSU came out firing in the second half, quickly closing the gap and tying the game at 42-42. The game remained close and came down to the final shot, making sophomore transfer
Brandon Glanz the hero, as he made the game-winning layup with 1.4 seconds remaining to give Sonoma State the 73-72 edge over the Pioneers. It wasn't the only buzzer-beater for Glanz on the night, though, as the sophomore put one through the net as time expired in the first half as well. With 23 points, Scott led the way for the Seawolves once again, hitting 7-of-12 from the floor and 7-of-9 from the charity stripe. Impressive off the bench for the Seawolves, Glanz pitched in with 14 points, and made good decisions passing the ball, ending the night with four assists.
Steve Lackey became a presence down low, chipping in 11 points and six rebounds, along with two blocks. The Pioneers' Gabe Kindred led his team with 20 points in the narrow one-point loss to the Seawolves.
SCOUTING SAN FRANCISCO STATE: Currently sitting at 3-3 overall and 1-1 in CCAA play thus far in 2012-13, the Gators will look for revenge after the Seawolves swept the season series just a year ago. San Francisco State will try to improve on their 43-38 all-time series lead this week, but the friendly confines of The Wolves' Den has not been so friendly for the Gators this season, as they went 0-2 during the Ron Logsdon Basketbal Classic. However, they found their first and second wins of the season against No. 7 Seattle Pacific and Colorado at Colorado Springs, respectively, at the Carls Jr. Mac Martin Invitational in Chico, Calif two weekend's ago. San Francisco State split last weekend's games, falling to Cal State East Bay, 76-80, before coming out victorious against Cal State Monterey Bay, 60-55. Through six games, four players are supporting the Gator offense with double-digit scoring averages. Sophomore Robbie Herndon leads the team, averaging 14.7 points per game, followed by Decensae White with 13.2. Calvin Otiono and James Albright round off the double-digit scoring contingent, averaging 11.0 and 10.8 points per contest, respectively.
AT FIRST GLANZ: Sophomore
Brandon Glanz, who transfered from NCAA Division I Idaho State in the offseason, continued to impress this past weekend, netting a season-high 14 points, including the game-winning lay-up with 1.4 seconds left in his coming out party against Cal State East Bay on Saturday night. In his first two games in Seawolf blue, Glanz played a total of nine minutes, netting a combined 12 points, including nine points in only four minutes of play against Cal State Monterey Bay. Glanz' offensive presence on Saturday night opened up opportunities for fellow big-man,
Steve Lackey, who was a part of Glanz' four assists. In addition to his efforts from the floor, Glanz has done well at the free throw line as well, shooting 76.9 percent including a 7-for-7 night against Cal State Monterey Bay on Saturday.
GREAT SCOTT!: Through four games this season, Scott has already matched his career total of three 20+ point games, leading him to his second CCAA Player of the Week award in the young 2012-13 season. He has dropped in a season-high 28 points twice this season, giving shooting clinics against Minnesota State and Cal State Monterey Bay, in which he shot over 75 percent from the field and drained four shots from three-point land. He has missed only six free throw attempts all season, putting him at 81 percent from the charity stripe and is currently leading the conference in shooting percentage, netting cool 68 percent of his attempts from the hardwood. The senior out of Grass Valley, Calif. also leads the CCAA and the Seawolves in points per game, averaging 23.2 per contest.
OTHER SEAWOLF NOTES: Sonoma State currently sits in second place in the CCAA standings (3-1, 2-0) behind Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State San Bernardino, who are both 3-0 in conference play ... This is the first time the Seawolves have started 2-0 in CCAA competition since the 2005-06 season, in which they posted a 16-4 conference record and made an appearence in the NCAA Tournament ... Averaging 81.0 points per game, SSU is second in the conference behind Cal State San Bernardino (82.5).
