ROHNERT PARK, Calif. — In an exciting 2017 home opener, the Sonoma State Seawolves rose to a 76-73 victory over Fresno Pacific Friday night in the Wolves' Den. Armani Nicolis and Isaac Davidson combined for 37 points in the game while putting in respective 32- and 35-minute performances.

We had to start off with Jackson [Gion] on the bench tonight," noted Head Coach Pat Fuscaldo after the game. "We had to scramble and change the lineup and that changes the rotation, so we were a little slow getting going, but I thought some of the new guys coming in—like Davion Mize, Lewayne Grant, Seth Cobb and Isaac—came in and did a great job."

The Seawolves and Sunbirds traded leads through a majority of the first half, neither team pulling more than three points ahead of the other until the final eight minutes of the period. Sonoma State found themselves down 17-14 with 10:44 remaining in the half before going on an 11-2 run—iced by Lewayne Grant's lone three-pointer—to open up a six-point advantage. Davidson gave the Seawolves a nine-point lead, their largest of the night, on a jumper in the paint with 4:15 remaining until the break.

Just when it looked like the Seawolves would peel away, the Sunbirds fought their way back into the game. Fresno Pacific pulled within three by halftime and within the first minute of the second half, had retaken the lead. The score went back and forth regularly as the teams eventually traded leads 14 times during the game. 

Fuscaldo recalled, "I thought they had a good game plan, and they threw it at us and we answered. When the game was on the line we made big plays."

One of those big plays came late in the second half after Jake Straughan put the Firebirds up by two, 71-69. With 1:49 remaining, Davidson sunk a three-pointer to retake the lead, if only by one point. 

However, the long-range shot wasn't the only big play of the game. SSU consistently capitalized on their opponent's mistakes, scoring 31 points of FPU turnovers.

Sonoma State used two turnovers in the final minute to build momentum off of Davidson's three, giving the Seawolves a five-point margin in the closing seconds of the game.

While happy with the result, Fuscaldo believes there's still some work that needs to be done on the defensive side.

"We lost seven practices with the [North Bay] fire. So when you lose seven practices, you try to make it up and something has to suffer...so you spend more time on the offense than you might on the defense, and that's what we did.

"We've gotta get better for tomorrow, that's all. Play better, play smarter."

With the win, the Seawolves improve to 2-1 on the season and will take on Dominican tomorrow at home in the second leg of the 17th Annual Ron Logsdon Classic. Tipoff is slated for 7:30pm.