STANISLAUS, CALIF. – On Saturday, December 18th, the Sonoma State men's basketball team stayed on the road as they took on the Warriors of Stanislaus State. Head coach Rich Shayewitz and his squad entered the contest with a 1-8 overall record but an upset win at home over SF State would give them a respectable 1-2 conference record. True freshman Jaylen Wells continues his successful first year campaign as he and veteran Nick Klarman lead the team in scoring with double figures. The Seawolves are coming off a tough road defeat to the fifth ranked team in the country in Chico State. They would look to grab another win on the road against a two-win Warriors team before returning to the Wolves' Den on Monday December 20th.    

Despite the Seawolves struggling three-point percentage this season, they would open up the game with back-to-back deep balls from Jeremy Lillis and Michael Smith to grab a 6-2 lead. After a flurry of turnovers from both teams, Smith would come down and connect again on a jumper to give SSU the early 8-2 lead. Out of their eight early points for the Seawolves, four would come off two offensive rebounds as SSU gained early control of the glass. The Seawolves full court press and sporadic zone defense forced the Warriors to work hard to get the ball up the court, and in turn, take tough contested shots late in the shot clock. 

Right around the halfway mark of the first half, both teams would have some early shooting struggles, but Shayewitz and his group would go on a nice run to take a commanding lead as we neared the end of the half. Jacob Williams and Damian Wallace would enter the contest and after a defensive rebound, Wallace would bring the ball back up the court and create some space on a nice penetration off the dribble. A kick out to Wesley Gilbert and a beautiful skip pass to the left wing would setup Williams for the deep ball in which he would connect on and give his team a 14-6 lead. Williams would finish the game 1-3 from three-point land. Minutes later, Santa Rosa JC transfer Damian Wallace would continue his production off the bench as he hit a three ball of his own to help give the Seawolves a 10-point lead. 

The Sonoma State defense was able to find a nice rhythm together as they held Stanislaus to under ten points all the way up to the nine-minute mark. After a made layup from the Warriors to finally get over ten points, the Seawolves would come back down the floor with a chance to record their largest lead of the half. After a missed layup from Wallace and another first half offensive board from Jacob Williams, Williams would kick it out to senior Michael Smith who would hit his second three of the half and give SSU a commanding 11-point lead. 

However, things would take turn for the worst as SSU went cold and the Warriors started to catch fire. In the remaining eight minutes of the opening half, Stanislaus would go on a momentum swinging 21- 8 run and take a two-point lead heading into halftime. During that stretch, Sonoma State only committed three turnovers but simply went cold from the field. The turning point during the Warriors scoring run would come around the three-minute mark where they would hit back-to-back threes to make it a two-point game. After a made jumper from freshman Jaylen Wells to help stop the bleeding and extend SSU's lead back to four, Stanislaus would draw a foul where they would split the free throws but grab the offensive rebound off the second free throw. A kick out and made three ball would complete the four point swing for the Warriors and finally tie the game at 28 as Stanislaus would complete the 11-point comeback before the half. Jaylen Wells would grab his own miss in the paint in the closing seconds and convert the put back to bring SSU to within two at the break. 

The scoring run for the Warriors would continue as they started the second half outscoring the Seawolves 9-2, taking a nine-point lead. Another made three-pointer would give the Warriors a commanding 12-point lead around the 15-minute mark as the Seawolves started to lose some of their control in the contest. Stanislaus would go on to convert six threes in the second half and finish the game shooting 40% from beyond the arc. Despite shooting a solid 5-10 from three-point range in the first half, Shayewitz and his group would go 3-13 from that mark and make just 9 field goals in the second half. 

After a fairly clean first half taking care of the ball, turnovers would come in bunches for Sonoma State as they finished the night with 17. The game would end with the Warriors on top, 55-76. Despite going 0 for 5 from three-point range, Jaylen Wells still had a productive night as he finished with a team high 13 points on 5-10 shooting. He would add a steal and three rebounds to his stat line as well. With the absence of senior Nick Klarman, Michael Smith stepped up for one of his better performances of the season as he recorded 10 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists in his 21 minutes of action. Kenny Olsem would get the start in place of Klarman and put up 6 points and grab 3 boards of his own. Versatile forward Jeremy Lillis was also effective in the game as he knocked down a three to finish with 7 points and 4 rebounds. Newcomer guard Jackie Luong showed his effectiveness in the game as well. Luong would lead SSU scorers off the bench with 6 points going 2-4 from three-point range in his 19 minutes of action. 

The Seawolves fall to 1-9 overall and 1-3 in CCAA play. With lots of the season ahead of them, they will look forward to a competitive home matchup this Monday, December 20th, against Humboldt State before heading into the winter break. Live stat and stream links can be found at sonomaseawolves.com and all games can be streamed on the CCAA Network. Be sure to follow your Seawolves on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to get all the latest SSU athletics updates and information. @SonomaSeawolves #NomaNation