ROHNERT PARK, CALIF. - On Saturday, November 19th, the Sonoma State men's basketball team would lose a tough one in the Ron Logsdon Basketball Challenge finale to Western Oregon. After scratching and clawing their way to just a one point deficit at the half, the Seawolves would go cold from the field and with turnovers piling up, Western Oregon would pull away to secure a 93-70 victory and go 2-0 on the weekend. Sonoma State would still put together one of their most complete offensive performances of the season as four players finished in double figures, good for a season high. Freshman point guard
Nick Medeiros would earn his first start of his Seawolf career after a solid 9-point performance off the bench in their previous game against Minnesota State.
FIRST HALF:
Medeiros would record season highs in minutes, points, and assists as he finished with 13 points on 40% shooting. Medeiros was very effective on both sides of the ball as well. Despite his 6-foot frame, the freshman out of Vallejo showed great defensive instincts and was also able to generate high quality shots for teammates throughout the entire contest. The wolves of Western Oregon would showcase their deep talent right off the bat as they went on an incredible shooting streak, making their first 12 field goals to jump out to a 29-17 lead. The Seawolves would respond though as they had the hot shooting hand early, a 9-0 scoring run to answer the Wolves would make it just a three point game just under the ten minute mark.
Both teams would continue to exchange points in what was a high scoring and entertaining first 20 minutes of action. After making just two free throws as a team against Minnesota State, the Seawolves would stay within striking distance and go 7 of 8 from the stripe in the first half. With just three minutes to play sophomore
Jaylen Wells would give the Seawolves their first lead since the 17 minute mark off an offensive rebound and a jumper in the lane making it 37-36. After a few free throws from Western Oregon within the final minute to retake the lead, Wells would knock down a huge three ball with just 20 seconds remaining to give SSU another one point lead. A near final second layup off a turnover would give the lead back to the Wolves at the break, but not before an efficient 40-point half on 50% shooting to put them right in the thick of it.
SECOND HALF:
The Wolves would start the second half much like they did the first with some hot shooting including two three balls to go on a 12-4 scoring run. The Seawolves would fight back once again with buckets from
Pierce Rexford and
Nick Medeiros to make it a 9 point game. Back-to-back buckets though from Western Oregon would prompt an SSU timeout from head coach
Rich Shayewitz as the Wolves continued to maintain their double digit advantage. With the Seawolves playing from behind and pressing for buckets, turnovers would start to pile up as Western Oregon out scored Sonoma State 9-1 on the fast break and 17-4 off turnovers.
The Seawolves would shoot just 30% from the field in the second half and suffer their fourth loss of the season. Four players though would finish with double figures as the offense really found a groove in the first half. Senior forward
Nick Klarman added his third double digit performance of the season with 11 points and 2-4 from three point range. First year player and transfer from Folsom Lake,
Pierce Rexford made his first start as a Seawolf and finished with 12 points and a team high 3 three pointers. Leading the way for Sonoma State once again was second year player
Jaylen Wells. Wells scored effectively inside and out all night long. He would finish with a season high 25 points and add 7 boards to his impressive stat line. Wells attacked the paint at will and took contact all night long but was able to convert several acrobatic layups and go 5-5 from the free throw line.
The Seawolves fall to 0-4 to begin their 2022-23 campaign and will hit the road for a quick road trip up to Arcata to take on Cal Poly Humboldt in a non-conference affair on Tuesday. They will then return home once again and play host in the Seawolves Thanksgiving Classic Saturday, November 26th against Fresno Pacific. 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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