ROHNERT PARK, CALIF. - On Thursday January 13th, the Sonoma State men's basketball team returned home for their first game in the Wolves' Den since December 20th where they came away with a convincing 10-point victory over Humboldt State. Despite dropping three straight CCAA contests since then, the Seawolves have battled through short handed lineups and have seen multiple season and career highs as they look to get back in the win column against the Broncos of Cal Poly Pomona. Head coach Rich Shayewitz and his squad went 0-2 in their southern California road trip last weekend as they dropped games to Cal State LA and #11 ranked Cal State San Marcos. Despite the losses, the Seawolves tied a program record as they hit 16 three's in their loss to Cal State LA and had four players finish in double figures for the first time this season. With several players out on COVID protocols, multiple players set career highs in minutes played and even notched career highs in points including sharp shooter Jacob Williams and senior transfer Simon Ramirez. SSU would look to bounce back and stay in the thick of the standings with a home upset over CPP on Thursday night. 

The Seawolves first game back in the Wolves' Den since December 20th would turn out to be a thriller as Sonoma State was able to force overtime and take down Cal Poly Pomona 91-85 to grab their third win of the season! What a night it would be for the Seawolves as their offense has really started to pick up over the last month. In SSU's last 5 games they've averaged just over 70 points per game with multiple players stepping up due to COVID protocols holding out some key starters. The Seawolves began the night with a spot up three from Jackie Luong in the corner to take the early lead. Luong would get his first start of the season as the Seawolves only had eight eligible players for the contest. Head coach Rich Shayewitz and his group have played short handed in their last three games so that was nothing new for them tonight. 

After forcing some early misses from the Cal Poly Pomona offense, guard Jackie Luong would remain hot and connect on another wing three to start the Seawolves on an 8-0 run to begin the game. The sophomore transfer out of the College of San Mateo would certainly take advantage of his first career start as a Seawolf as he finished the first half 3-3 from beyond the arc. SSU's lights out shooting from three would continue minutes later as freshman Jaylen Wells would hit a contested corner three to give themselves a 13-4 lead. Sonoma State would tie a program record with 16 made three's in their 82-88 loss to Cal State LA last weekend. The Broncos would slowly get it going though offensively as freshman big man Dane Erikstrup would connect on back-to-back buckets including a wing three pointer to ignite CPP's offense. Seawolves big man Jeremy Lillis would answer on the other end with a beautiful reverse layup and he would take the contact for the and one to put the Seawolves back up seven. After a couple answers from the Broncos offensively, a block on the defensive end would turn into a corner three from Brase Dottin to make it just a one point game. 

Both teams would begin to cool down as they got under the six minute mark but turnovers began to cause the Seawolves trouble as they would finish with seven in the first half. Free throws became Sonoma State's best friend however down the stretch of the first half as the Broncos got into early foul trouble and entered the one and one bonus with over six minutes left in the half. Shayewitz and his squad were aggressive going to the rim and were able to convert at the free throw line, finishing the half 10-13 as a team. SSU would bring some defensive pressure of their own with some mixed smaller lineups allowing them to switch and rotate more quickly. After an errant pass from a Broncos guard Jaylen Wells would pick up the loose ball and finish acrobatically at the rim for the solo bucket. The lead would jump back up to five for SSU with less than five to play. With the Seawolves short handed on the night and missing some bigger pieces down low, Cal Poly Pomona center Tay Aubry-Thomas would have his way with the smaller SSU lineup and he would convert some tough buckets inside to help make it a two point game. After a late SSU technical the half would finish knotted at 36 making for an exciting finish. Sonoma State continued their solid shooting form as they finished the half at 47% from the field and 40% from three. They would need to improve on the glass however as the Broncos out rebounded the Seawolves 23-17 and 9-1 on the offensive glass giving them 13 second chance points. 

Despite a quiet first half for senior guard Michael Smith, he would come out and hit an opening three to get himself going. Jackie Luong would add on and continue his career night as he hit a tough corner three to maintain the Seawolves lead. Luong would finish the night with career highs in almost every major statistical category for SSU. The versatile center in Dane Erikstrup would keep the Broncos in it as he opened up the first half with two three's of his own. He would finish with a team high 26 points on the night. Turnovers and missed shots would be the theme for several minutes up until the 14 minute mark for both teams. Fouls also became a story for the short handed Seawolves as three different players held at least three fouls with ten minutes left in the game. 

Both teams would experiment with some zone defense in the second half but the smaller Seawolves lineup would benefit offensively as Jaylen Wells was able to post at the free throw line and look to dish the ball or take it himself. Wells would execute in that zone defense and tie the game back up at 53 with a beautiful spin and euro step finish with the left hand just before the ten minute mark. The Broncos would flip the script for the remainder of the second half as they were able to get the Seawolves into the bonus just under ten minutes allowing them to shoot free throws the rest of the way. A huge momentous possession would come just under nine minutes for Cal Poly Pomona as Phoenix Shackelford would grab two offensive boards and then kick to the corner for a three from none other than Dane Erikstrup to give the Broncos a six point lead and force a timeout from Shayewitz. 

After the Broncos held their largest lead of the game at seven points, the Seawolves would go on a crucial 8-1 run to tie the game back up at 64 a piece. That 8-1 run would be capped off by a terrific put back layup from guard Jackie Luong who continued to add to his total. After Pomona would extend back to a four point lead with two minutes remaining, the Seawolves entered a must score state of mind and they got that with senior transfer Simon Ramirez. Ramirez played big minutes down the stretch as center Jeremy Lillis fouled out earlier in the half. Ramirez was able to get into the center of that Broncos zone defense and knife his way to the hoop for a tough layup. With that bucket Sonoma State was able to play defense without having to foul that next possession and after forcing a missed jump shot Luong would come back the other way and beat his defender off the dribble and draw a foul in the lane to get to the free throw line. He would split the pair though with a minute left in the game leaving Pomona with a one point lead. 

Broncos guard BJ Standley would drive hard to the right lane and stop on a dime to get the fadeaway jumper to go and make it a three point game with under a minute to play. Head coach Rich Shayewitz would call a timeout to draw up a play as they needed a bucket on their next possession. A massive bucket they would get as Jaylen Wells would drive into the right lane out of the timeout but as he drew two defenders he would sling a pass to the corner where Simon Ramirez would connect on a corner three in front of the Seawolves bench to tie the game. After a Broncos timeout, the Sonoma State defense would step up big time as they rotated and switched brilliantly to force a contested shot just before the shot clock buzzer but Pomona would get the offensive rebound and now with the game clock under 30 seconds they could hold for the last shot in regulation. Phoenix Shackelford would be the man with the ball for the Broncos and as he made his move to the right side of the paint looking to win the game for Cal Poly Pomona. However, Seawolves guard Damian Wallace would help off the weak side and step in to draw the charge off of Shackelford's spin move and help force overtime for Sonoma State! 

SSU would head to their second overtime contest of the season looking for the home upset over Cal Poly Pomona. After winning the jump, Simon Ramirez would strike again and hit another corner three to give the Seawolves the early overtime lead. Michael Smith and Ramirez would play some great two man ball in the corner and after drawing two defenders on the drive, Smith would kick it out to Ramirez for the three. After a miss from the Broncos Jackie Luong would grab his own miss off the three and finish the high floated off glass to extend the Seawolves lead to five. Pomona would split a pair of free throws on the other end to get them on the board in the overtime period. They would close the lead to just one on their next possession as a defensive breakdown left Christopher Mitchell wide open in the corner for three as he knocked it down. The game would be decided in the Seawolves next two possessions as Jackie Luong was able to draw a foul and convert both shots at the line to make it a three point game and then on their very next possession Michael Smith would hit his biggest shot of the game as he drilled a corner three to give SSU a six point advantage. After splitting a pair of free throws, Simon Ramirez would put the nail in the coffin as he dove to the basket off a screen and with one dribble was able to finish through contact for the and one. The Seawolf bench erupted as Ramirez hit the free throw to extend their lead to seven. 

The Seawolves would get some easy buckets in transition after breaking the Broncos press and they would eventually take the game in overtime, 91-85. Simon Ramirez exploded in the second half coming off the bench as he scored 16 of his 19 points in the second half and overtime including the game tying three in regulation. Jaylen Wells was huge for Sonoma State on the night as well as he notched his first career double double. He finished with 22 points, a team high 10 rebounds, and an efficient 13-14 from the free throw line. Free throw shooting was huge all night for the Seawolves as they finished 81% from the line and out shot the Broncos 30-16 from that mark. The story of the night, though, belonged to sophomore guard Jackie Luong as he finished with a career high 26 points in his first career start as a Seawolf. Luong shot 50% from the field and 50% from three on the night. He also added 5 rebounds and went 8-10 from the free throw line. Veterans Michael Smith and Jeremy Lillis also added 9 points each in the team's victory. 

Sonoma State improves to 3-12 on the season and 3-6 in CCAA play with their overtime comeback victory. The Seawolves will return to the Wolves' Den this Saturday against the 6th ranked Coyotes of Cal State San Bernardino. Live stats 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