NCAA Division II West Regional Tournament Central
LA JOLLA, Calif. -- Despite holding a three-point lead early in the second half, the Sonoma State men's basketball team saw its incredible season come to an end Friday with a 73-61 loss to 4th-ranked Hawaii Pacific in the NCAA Division II West Region Tournament quarterfinals at RIMAC Arena in La Jolla. The Seawolves end the 2016-17 campaign with a 20-9 record.
The Sea Warriors (29-2), the No. 2 seed in the West Region, advance to Saturday's regional semifinal against No. 6 seed Chico State, which upset No. 3 seed Western Washington in the first game of the afternoon.
Click here to see what head coach
Pat Fuscaldo and senior
Jimmy Golden had to say about Friday's regional quarterfinal loss to Hawaii Pacific.
Friday's matchup provided fans with plenty of excitement from the opening tip-off. Looking to establish a lead early on and control the pace of play, Sonoma jumped out to an early 7-2 lead in the first two minutes. It was the ultimate matchup of a stellar offense going up against a stellar defense with the Sharks averaging over 87 points a game and the Seawolves defense ranked number one in the nation. Hawaii was able to shoot its way back into the game and the two teams kept the contest close for the remainder of the half. SSU's biggest lead for the half was the five point lead they established in the early minutes of the game and Hawaii's biggest lead was five as well—propelling to a 25-30 lead with 1:14 remaining in the half. The Seawolves battled hard and proceeded to end the half on a 5-0 run after a jumper by
Ronnie Harris and three-pointer by
Armani Nicolis with four seconds left tied the game at 30 entering the halfway point.
The second half started out much of the same for both teams—both trading baskets and keeping the game close early on. Sonoma was able to attain a 35-32 lead with 17:15 remaining in the contest, but that would be the last lead they had the remainder of the way. The Sharks were able to retake the lead 35-37 at the 16:07 mark and after Sonoma tied it once again at 37 all, Hawaii never looked back. The Sharks would eventually go on a 11-4 run, increasing the lead to double-digits with a score of 43-53, their biggest lead thus far, with 9:51 to go. Needing to find some sort of momentum, Sonoma was unable to go on a much needed run. The Tigers would eventually go ahead by as many as 17 points before ultimately winning by a score of 73-61 after
Topher Taylor hit back-to-back three's to conclude the contest.
After shooting an outstanding 50 percent on 12 of 24 from the floor in the first half, the Seawolves ended the contest shooting 45.8 percent overall on 22 of 48 from the floor. They even outshot the Sharks, who shot 45.7 percent from the floor on 21 of 46 in total. A prominent factor in deciding the outcome was the free throw differential. Hawaii shot 21 for 27 from the line, in comparison to Sonoma converting 11 of their 15 attempts. Nicolis and
Nathan Molony-Benjamin both led the way for the Seawolves with nine points apiece.
The season unfortunately comes to an end for the Seawolves, finishing the year with a remarkable 20-9 record, the number one ranked defense in the nation, and their first NCAA tournament appearance in eleven years.
