HAYWARD, Calif. — In their second and final game of the weekend's Pioneer Challenge, Sonoma State proved unable to replicate their comeback heroics of the previous night, falling to Montana State Billings by a final of 67-61 in regulation.
Fresh off a 19-point performance the night before, Armani Nicolis lead the Seawolves with 26 points, eight of which came in the final 5:28 of the game.
The Seawolves found themselves down by six in the first five minutes before scoring eight points in a row to take a 12-10 lead with 12:31 remaining in the first half. However, the Yellowjackets immediately retook the lead, expanding their margin to as many as five points before closing out the half with a 32-29 lead.
Kamal Tall began the half putting up 10 points for the Yellowjackets, and leading his team to a 13-point lead—their largest of the game—with 8:37 remaining. The Seawolves clawed their way back into the game though, going on a 16-6 run to pull within three on a Seth Cobb free throw. However, Sonoma State failed to complete the comeback in the final 55 seconds, and dropped their first game of the season.
With the loss, the Seawolves fall to 1-1 before returning to the Wolves' Den Friday, for their home opener against Fresno Pacific at 7:30pm PT.
