SAN RAFAEL, CALIF. - On Saturday and Sunday, November 12th and 13th, the Sonoma State men's basketball team officially opened up their 2022-23 season with non-conference action in the PacWest/CCAA Challenge hosted by Dominican University. On Saturday, the Seawolves found themselves in a bit of a shootout with the Dominican Penguins, seeing three starters finish with double figures. The Penguins would outscore the Seawolves by just three points each half to hand them a 76-82 defeat to open up the season. Senior forward Nick Klarman got off to a hot start and would finish with a game high 23 points to kickoff his 5th year with the program. 

SSU vs. Dominican (L, 76-82)

Second year head coach Rich Shayewitz continued to showcase the Seawolves new offense as SSU got off to a hot start with an 11-2 run consisting of five different scorers. The Penguins would climb right back into the contest with an 8-0 run of their own to make it just a one point game at the 12-minute mark. An offensive board from sophomore Jaylen Wells with seconds left in the first half would allow him to draw a foul and knock down a pair of free throws to make it just a three point game at the half. 

Back to back stops from the Seawolves defense to start the second half would allow first year guard Julian Bryant to come down and hit a three to quickly tie the game up 35-35. The biggest difference in the second half would come down to foul trouble and the charity stripe where the Penguins would go 11-13, nine more made free throws than SSU. Sonoma State would shoot an impressive 58% from the field but failed to make stops when they needed them most and would drop their first game of the season 76-82. Familiar faces in Nick Klarman and Jaylen Wells would combine for 36 points to lead all SSU scorers but 6-foot-4 junior transfer Julian Bryant would have a nice Seawolf debut, finishing with 11 points on 4-5 shooting. Three more players would record eight points or more to add to the collective scoring from the Seawolves offense. 

SSU vs. ART U (L, 70-77)

On Sunday, Sonoma State would have almost an identical game as they were down four at the half and then scored just three fewer points in the second half to fall by seven. After scoring a season high 44 points in the second half the night prior against Dominican, they would follow things up with another 70-point game but would allow the Urban Knights to shoot 46% from the field and a whopping 55% from three point range. 

The Seawolves saw balanced and deep scoring once again and a new team high from first year transfer Austin Fadal who finished with 18 points and 5 boards. Fadal joined the Seawolves squad this season as a transfer from BigSky member Eastern Washington and found a groove Sunday afternoon as he went 8-14 from the field in 33 minutes of action. 

Klarman and Wells recorded their second straight double digit game as they combined for 32 points. Klarman finished with a team high three three's for SSU but the three ball always seemed to fall for the Urban Knights as they finished with a game high 11 three's and shot over 50% from beyond the arc as they ultimately pulled away to win 77-70. Julian Bryant added another 7 points and would finish the weekend with 18 points in his two games of action.     

The Seawolves start their 2022-23 campaign 0-2 but will make their home debut in the Wolves' Den next weekend in the annual Ron Logsdon Basketball Challenge presented by Cambria Hotel. Sonoma State will welcome Stanislaus State, Western Oregon and Minnesota Mankato for a slate of four games from Friday to Saturday. The Seawolves will take on Minnesota Mankato on Friday night at 7:00 PM. Live stats, live stream, and ticket links can all be found at sonomaseawolves.com on the men's basketball schedule page. As always you can stream the game LIVE on the CCAA Network.

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