ROHNERT PARK, CALIF. - On Thursday, January 27th the Sonoma State men's basketball team returned home looking to end their three game skid after coming off road losses the previous weekend to Cal State Dominguez Hills and Cal State East Bay. With more players returning from health and safety protocols, the team would look to get back to their full strength for the first time in weeks. Several surprise scorers like Jackie Luong and Simon Ramirez helped lead the way during the last several weeks with a COVID riddled roster but the Seawolves would get some veteran help as Nick Klarman returned to the lineup for the first time since January 8th. Klarman brings a shooting threat from outside as he is second on the team in scoring, averaging over 11 points per game. He would get the start tonight as SSU looked for the conference win and to avoid the four game skid. 

A fast paced style of play highlighted the opening ten minutes of action as the game saw three lead changes and three different times the game was tied. Both teams struggled from deep early forcing them to go toe to toe in the paint, Stanislaus narrowly outscoring Sonoma State 12-10 in that category. Nick Klarman had himself a nice start to the game as he scored the first bucket of the game on a brilliant cut down the middle of the paint where Jaylen Wells fed him the ball for the quick layup and the foul. Klarman would connect on a three as well to give him 5 early points. After the eight minute media timeout, the Seawolves would go on a 11-8 run as the offense started to force some turnovers and and the bench came alive. Freshman Jaylen Wells converted a three and a couple buckets to get himself going while Simon Ramirez continued his fantastic scoring run off the bench. After missing on the back end of the hoop on his first three point attempt, Ramirez would hit two straight and split a pair of free throws to give him 7 crucial points off the bench for SSU. Kenny Olsem also appeared to get out of his scoring rut early on as he had 5 big points off the bench, knocking down both of his shots and a free throw. 

The tide would turn for Sonoma State in the closing four minutes though as turnovers and some crucial three's from the Warriors would put the Seawolves down five at the half. SSU turned the ball over three times in the final minutes of the half and Stanislaus finally cashed in some three balls to go on a 11-6 run to close out the half. Benno Zecic was perfect from the field for the Warriors and led all players with 10 first half points to help build up their lead. The Seawolves, though, did have five players with at least 5 points or more and were looking to force some turnovers and knock down some outside shots to get back into the contest in the second half.

An early second half three pointer from forward Nick Klarman would cut the lead down to four but the Warriors would connect on back-to-back buckets just before and after the first media timeout to extend their lead back out to eight. That would be the story of the second half unfortunately for Sonoma State as the Warriors managed to maintain a nice 8-10 point buffer throughout the majority of the second half. SSU needed some outside shots to fall and instead went 3-17 from three in the second half. Stanislaus State did no better as the Seawolves defense held them to just 2-11 from three. After going down by a game high 14 points with under three to play, SSU would answer with a 5-0 run including a Michael Smith three pointer, to bring it back to within ten, but once again the Warriors would have an answer and not allow SSU to develop any momentum. Stanislaus would go 6-6 from the line in the final two minutes to ice the game and prevent a late Seawolves comeback. 

The Warriors would take the series sweep on the season and win 70-59. Four Seawolves would finish in double figures for just the third time this season as Jayeln Wells and Michael Smith would each finish with 11 points. Wells would continue his high rebounding numbers and finish with a team high 7 rebounds including 3 on the offensive glass. Nick Klarman and Simon Ramirez each finished with 10 points on a combined 6-16 shooting. Ramirez shot 50% from three and added 4 rebounds to his line while Klarman shot 33% from deep and added 5 rebounds. Kenny Olsem also contributed 7 points of his own off the bench in his 18 minutes of action. 24% from the field and 17% from three would be the ultimate daggers for the Seawolves in the second half. 

Sonoma State now falls to 3-16 on the season and 3-10 in CCAA play. The Seawolves will return to the Wolves' Den on Saturday the 29th and take on the #13 ranked Wildcats of Chico State as they look for the home upset to shake up the conference standings. 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. Sonoma State athletics also has launched a new fan app in partnership with From Now On. Download the free app today in both the Apple and Google Play stores by searching Sonoma State Seawolves in the app store. @SonomaSeawolves | #NomaNation