ROHNERT PARK, CALIF. - On Sunday, November 27th, the Sonoma State men's basketball team ended their 6-game skid and grabbed their first win of the season in a blowout over PacWest member Holy Names. The Seawolves offense has been scoring at a record clip with the team averaging 73.7 points per game, good for 5th in the CCAA. It is also the team's highest points per game figure since the 2011-12 season where Sonoma State won 17 games and averaged 72.3 points per game.
FIRST HALF:
The Seawolves offense would find a groove early and jump out to a 17-6 lead with several different players getting in the score sheet. The early star though would be the junior guard out of Berkeley,
Julian Bryant, who recorded 9 points within the first ten minutes of the game. Bryant knocked down an early three during the team's 17-6 start but would pound the paint all night long and shoot an impressive 73% from the field. Possessions later, Bryant would pull the trigger on a pull up three and connect to give SSU their largest lead of the first half at 12 points.
Turnovers would start to plague the Seawolves though late in the first half and Holy Names would convert three straight buckets to cut the deficit to just four with three minutes to go. Senior forward
Nick Klarman would step up and hit two massive shots back-to-back to extend the Seawolves lead and reaffirm their momentum going into the half. Klarman would give SSU a 9-point lead with a clutch step back three with just 35 seconds left.
Head coach
Rich Shayewitz and his group would then make a solid defensive stand in the following possession and forced a missed shot to end the half with their 9-point lead. The Seawolves would shoot an impressive 52% from the field and 42% from three to end the first half.
SECOND HALF:
Reigning all-conference recipient
Jaylen Wells would continue to showcase his deep skillset in the second half as he lit up the scoreboard and got hot from beyond the arc. Wells would be responsible for five of the team's first six baskets to start the second half and knock down back-to-back three balls to ignite the crowd and give Sonoma State their largest lead of the game at 16 points.
At the 12-minute mark, the Seawolves would put the nail in the coffin and take complete control of the game as
Nick Klarman would get a bounce pass from
Jaylen Wells in transition and finish inside with a tough two-handed slam over the Hawks defender. The slam goes down as the play of the year so far for the Seawolves as they took a convincing 22-point lead.
SSU would continue to score at will and see 10 different players record a basket. Santa Rosa JC transfer
Damian Wallace was a great spark off the bench as he led all bench scorers with 9 points. He was a perfect 3-3 from the field in just 8 minutes of action.
Sophomore forward
Jaylen Wells would lead all scorers once again with 28 points and 8 rebounds. This would go down as his third 20-point game of the season and he currently ranks second in the entire conference averaging 21.1 points per game.
Nick Klarman and
Julian Bryant would each finish with 18 points and Klarman would record a season high 9 rebounds. Junior center
Josh Walker would get his first start of his Seawolf career and record his first buckets of the season as he finished with 4 points. Walker was a great defensive presence in the paint for the Seawolves and would also grab a season high 4 rebounds. Sonoma State would run away with the game and pick up their first win of the season, 93-67. They would finish with a season high 57 points in the second half.
Sonoma State improves to 1-6 with their first win of the season over Holy Names. They will hit the road next week and take on Cal State East Bay on Thursday, December 1st at 7:30 PM. Live stats, 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.
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
