ROHNERT PARK, CALIF. - On Saturday, February 5th, the Sonoma State men's basketball team put up a valiant effort against the streaking 10-5 Monterey Bay Otters. The Otters have been surging in CCAA play as they came into today's contest winning four of their last five. Two of those four wins came against two of the top teams in the conference in nationally ranked Chico State and Cal State San Marcos. In the first ten minutes of today's contest, head coach Rich Shayewitz went toe-to-toe with Monterey Bay as they played their way to a 16-14 lead with several different contributors. Center Jeremy Lillis caught fire from deep as he has been hit and miss all season with his newly added skill of the pick and pop three. Lillis would hit a big three from the top of the key under ten minutes to give the Seawolves a 5 point lead. 

After getting fouled from beyond the arc and Nick Klarman hitting all three free throws, Sonoma State would go on an 11-3 scoring run to end the half which included two big three's from Jeremy Lillis and layups from Michael Smith and Preston Blakely. SSU would take a commanding 13 point lead into the half. The scorching first half and stingy defense, holding the Otters to just 28 points, would only seem to awake Monterey Bay as they would come out firing from deep and climb their way back into the game. 

After just three minutes of action in the second half, Monterey Bay had gone on an 11-2 run to make it just a 4 point game. SSU would go scoreless on teo of their first three possessions while Monterey Bay proceeded to hit three straight three pointers to shock the Seawolves defense and force an early timeout. Lillis would hit yet another three ball to stop the bleeding after the timeout but the Otters would hit two more three's to know the game at 49 a piece. After tying the game, Monterey Bay wouldn't look back as they continued on their scoring run and ultimately hold a 12 point lead with under seven to play. 

SSU was efficient from the free throw line once again, just missing six free throws on the night. However, after hitting 50% of their three's in the first half, the Seawolves would connect on just 3 in the second and shoot 32% from the field. Damian Wallace would make his 11th start of the season and hit a career high as he finished with 13 points on an efficient 5-9 shooting. Wallace would also add 3 assists to his line. Jaylen Wells would also tack on 13 of his own in 32 minutes of action and grab a team high 8 rebounds. Nick Klarman would play a team high 35 minutes in his start and finish with 10 points on 3-5 shooting. The star of the night for the Seawolves, however, was big man Jeremy Lillis. Lillis found his stroke from deep as he hit a game high and season high 4 three's and finished with 16 points.     

Sonoma State falls to 3-19 on the season and 3-13 in CCAA play. The Seawolves will return to the Wolves' Den next week as they take on Cal State East Bay on Thursday, February 10th and then Dominguez Hills on the 12th. 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