CARSON, Calif. — Three Sonoma State men's basketball players scored in double-figures in what was a stellar offensive display to capture an impressive 70-55 victory on the road against the Toros of Cal State Dominguez Hills Thursday night in the Torodome. The Seawolves matched a season high 54.8 shooting percentage on 23 for 42 shooting from the floor, which they also achieved in a 77-60 victory against Saint Martin's back on November 18th.
 
With the victory, the Seawolves improve to 12-5 overall, and 8-3 in CCAA play, putting them in fourth place, and only one game behind Chico State for first place. Meanwhile, the Toros fall to 9-8 on the year, and 5-6 in the conference.
 
It was a slow start out of the gates for the Seawolves as they found themselves falling behind 7-0 in the early going. It was not until Armani Nicolis sank a couple free throws at the 17:32 mark to get the Seawolves on the board and the offense rolling. From there, Sonoma was able to tie the game 7-7 with 13:59 remaining after Mason Phillips made a three-pointer and Ronnie Harris made a jumper. Brian Johnson gave the team their first lead of the night on a layup with 11:51 left in the half to make it 11-10. The Seawolves never relinquished the lead the remainder of the contest, leading by as many as seven in the opening half on two separate occasions before heading into halftime leading 28-22. Nicolis led the way scoring in the first half, scoring six points on 2 for 2 shooting. The team shot 11 for 21 (52.4 percent) overall in the half and protected the ball well, only turning it over five times. The nation's No. 1-ranked defense held the Toros to 7 for 21 shooting from the floor in the half, including only 3 for 13 (23.1 percent) from three-point range, and forced eight turnovers.
 
The conference opponents began the second half trading buckets, Sonoma unable to increase the lead, and CSU Dominguez Hills unable to really cut into the deficit. It was not until Khalid Johnson made a layup with 15:14 remaining, which ignited a 10-0 Seawolf run to increase the lead from 33-28 to 43-28 in a two-minute span. The Toros were able to cut into the lead a bit and found themselves trailing by ten after a Justin Sadler layup made it 48-38. That was the closest Sonoma would allow CSUDH to get, as the Seawolves were able to increase their lead up to as many as 20 points after a pair of Johnson free throws made it 70-50 with 1:38 remaining to all but secure the victory.
 
Sonoma was able to build off their first half lead by shooting 12 for 21 after intermission, and going 14 for 15 from the line. Jimmy Golden was a prominent factor in the half, scoring 10 of his game-high 15 points in the second half alone. The defense held the Toros to 10 for 22 shooting from the floor and forced six turnovers in the process.
 
When it was all said and done, the Seawolves shot 23 for 42 overall, tying a season high 54.8 percent shooting from the floor. Nicolis and Luke Cochran were the other two scorers in double-figures, scoring 13 and 10 points, respectively. Nicolis also led the team with five assists, and Jackson Gion grabbed a team-high four rebounds. The defense held the Toros to 17 for 43 (39.5 percent) shooting, including 8 for 22 (36.4 percent) from three. They were also able to force 14 turnovers, while only committing nine.
 
The Seawolves will conclude their three-game road trip Saturday night, taking on the Cougars of Cal State San Marcos at The Sports Center in San Marcos at 7:30PM. Then, the Seawolves will return home for Pack the Den Night on Friday February 3rd at 7:30PM against first-place Chico State, which will be their first game in the newly remodeled Wolves' Den.