ROHNERT PARK, CALIF. - On Saturday, February 26th, the Sonoma State men's basketball team took the floor at home in the Wolves' Den for the final time this season as they faced off against Cal State LA. With no playoff implications for either team, SSU could enjoy senior day and give their dedicated graduates the honor and recognition they deserve. The recognized seniors for today's game included forward Simon Ramirez, forward Kenny Olsem, guard Isaiah Usher, power forward Wesley Gilbert, center Jeremy Lillis, and guard Jake Salinero. After a loud ovation from the Seawolf crowd and family members following all six senior recognitions, head coach Rich Shayewitz did one better by starting 5 of the 6 seniors and playing them for the first several possessions before rotating in his usual starting lineup. Senior guard Isaiah Usher was able to record his second start of the season while Jake Salinero recorded his sixth, both seniors tallied over 30 minutes combined in the contest. 

Salinero got the crowd into the game right away as he came off the dribble handoff and drove straight to the hoop and finished the tough and-1 lay up. Salinero would score another lay up possessions later and accounted for 4 of the Seawolves first 6 points to start the game. Isaiah Usher started 0-2 from the field in his first 6 minutes of action with the senior starting lineup but he would draw an offensive foul to turn the ball over and give SSU the possession to highlight his opening minutes. Just under the 14 minute mark, Shayewitz would make the call to his bench and bring on the traditional starters as the seniors received a well deserved standing ovation. Freshman Jaylen Wells would connect on his first shot attempt from beyond the arc and make it just a one point game. 

After taking a one point lead on a Wesley Gilbert hook shot in the lane, the Golden Eagles would flip a switch and never look back. In the final 8 minutes of the first half, Cal State La went on a convincing 23-11 scoring run to conclude the half with a 13 point lead. Despite the Golden Eagles making just one more made field goal than the Seawolves in the first 20 minutes, LA was able to go 8-20 from three compared to SSU's 1-9. Sonoma State was having good success in the paint with cuts to the rim as they got good production from Jeremy Lillis and Jaylen Wells inside, however, LA was capitalizing on SSU turnovers and were getting good looks in transition to expand their lead into the second half. 

8 minutes into the second half, the Golden Eagles started out on a 19-10 run which saw huge transition three's from Alexander Sokol and Jaden Lazo. Sokol would catch fire midway through the second half as he accounted for 8 of the team's 15 points in the first 7 minutes of the half. After a made layup from the diving Lillis inside to cut the lead down to 13, Cal State LA would go on another scorching 13-2 run with several transition buckets to grow their lead all the way to 24 points. Sokol would go on an unreal solo run of his own as he finished the game 9-17 from three point range and a game high 29 points. Shane Bell would tack on 20 of his own as he got himself going late in the second half as well, finishing 9-14 from the field and 2-4 from deep.  

As the game began to distance itself from the Seawolves, head coach Rich Shayewitz would sub back in the starting lineup full of graduating seniors for the final four minutes of the game and their SSU careers as they received a well deserved standing ovation yet again. Possessions later, Simon Ramirez would pull the trigger on a corner three and connect for his lone attempt of the game. He would also get a layup in transition seconds before time expired to give himself 9 points in the game. Lillis would have an extremely productive game inside as he was very effective on the pick and roll all afternoon. He would record 16 points on 8-15 shooting and grab a team high 7 rebounds as well. Forward Jaylen Wells would also put an exclamation point on his freshman season as he led the team with 19 points on 7-11 shooting. Wells's 19 point performance would go down as his 9th game of the season recording 15+ points. He would finish as the team leader in points per game with 12.6. 

On behalf of Sonoma State athletics we congratulate all of our amazing graduating seniors from the men's basketball program. We thank you for your commitment and dedication to SSU athletics and we welcome you to the Seawolf alumni family. For more information on the 2021-22 men's basketball seniors click HERE.              

Sonoma State finishes the 2021-22 season at 3-25 and 3-19 in CCAA play. Congratulations once again to the SSU seniors in Simon Ramirez, Kenny Olsem, Isaiah Usher, Wesley Gilbert, Jeremy Lillis, and Jake Salinero. 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