POMONA, Calif. -- The Sonoma State men's basketball team suffered a 55-51 setback to Cal Poly Pomona in the regular season finale Saturday night in Pomona, but the Seawolves and Broncos are set for a rematch on Tuesday night at 7:00 pm in The Wolves' Den as the First Round of the CCAA Men's Basketball Championship Tournament is set. 

Sonoma State (19-7) finished the season with a 15-5 record in the CCAA and tied for third in the standings with Chico State.  However, by virtue of a set of tiebreaking procedures to determine playoff seedings, SSU held the tiebreaker over Chico and earned the No. 3 seed in the CCAA tournament and hosting duties in the First Round. 

Cal Poly Pomona (12-12, 10-10 CCAA) will enter Tuesday's playoff contest as one of the hottest teams in the West Region, as CPP has won 9 of its last 11 games, earning themselves a spot in the CCAA tournament as the No. 6 seed.

Also on Tuesday, No. 1 seed and regular season champion UC San Diego will host No. 8 seed Humboldt State, No. 2 seed San Francisco State hosts No. 7 seed Cal State L.A. and No. 4 seed Chico State hosts No. 5 seed Cal State Dominguez Hills.  The winners of each First Round contest will advance to the semifinals and finals of the CCAA Men's Basketball Championships in San Marcos on March 3rd and 4th.

For Tuesday night's CCAA playoff game at home in The Wolves' Den, general admission tickets are $8.00, faculty and staff, members of the armed forces (with ID), seniors, and visiting students are $5.00, and children 12 and under are $2.00.  The first 500 Sonoma State students will receive free admission, courtesy of the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics.  No advance ticket sales are available for students; all tickets must be picked up at the door, starting at 6:00 pm on game day.  As this is a CCAA event, no SSU or SSAA season passes will be accepted for admission. 

On Saturday night, though, a team-high 13 points by Jackson Gion and a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double by Luke Cochran was not enough for the Sonoma State men's basketball team to overcome a 10-point halftime deficit, as they dropped the regular season finale on the road to Cal Poly Pomona 55-51.
 
After struggling to find rhythm offensively in the first half of Thursday night's game, the offense appeared to have found its stride early on in Saturday night's game, jumping out to an 8-3 lead in the first three minutes. However, CPP started to catch fire and responded by going on a 13-0 run and suddenly SSU was trailing 8-16 with 12:30 to go in the half. From there, the point differential stayed pretty consistent throughout the rest of the half. The closest Sonoma would get in the half was eight and they most they trailed by was 11 on three different occasions, before ultimately heading into the half trailing 19-29.
 
Baskets were hard to come by in the first half for Sonoma, only shooting 30 percent on 6 of 20 from the floor. Meanwhile, the Broncos were able to connect on 10 of their 18 shots (55.6 percent) and were especially dialed in from long range, shooting 60 percent from distance.
 
For the second consecutive game the Seawolves went into the half down ten and were looking to replicate the success they had in their come from behind win on Thursday night. Once the second half started the defense buckled down once again and the shots started to fall. Six minutes into the second half Sonoma cut into Cal Poly Pomona's lead and shrank it down to two after opening the half on an 11-3 run and now only trailed 30-32. CPP was able to regain some of the momentum SSU gathered to open up the half and stretched the lead back to ten after countering with an 8-0 run of their own.

The conference opponents would trade baskets of the next several minutes, until Gion hit a three to bring Sonoma within four, making the score 39-43. After falling behind eight once again, a Cochran layup and four made free throws by Gion, spanning two possessions, brought the Seawolves within two with a minute to go and a score of 45-47. Sonoma began fouling intentionally and after CPP made their next two free throws the score was 45-49. On the ensuing possession Gion made a three, making the score 48-51. CPP eventually went up 48-54 after connecting on three more free throws over their next two possessions. With four seconds left, Khalid Johnson made a three-pointer to bring Sonoma within three. Unfortunately, time was not on the Seawolves side and ultimately they fell to the Broncos by a score of 51-55.
 
Sonoma undoubtedly played better in the second half, but the deficit was just too much to overcome. After shooting 41.67 percent in the half, the Seawolves shot 36.4 percent on 16 of 44 shooting for the entirety of the game and after allowing the Broncos to shoot 55.56 percent in the opening stanza, the defense only allowed five made shots on 20 attempts (25 percent). All together CPP shot 15 for 38 from the floor, or 39.5 percent. The defense also forced 10 turnovers in the process.
 
The Seawolves will return to the hardwood on Tuesday February 28th and will be looking for redemption as they take on Cal Poly Pomona in the opening round of the CCAA Championship Tournament. Tip-off from the Wolves' Den will be at 7:00 PM.