ROHNERT PARK, CALIF. – On Thursday, January 12th, the Sonoma State men's basketball team went toe-to-toe with Southern California foe Cal State San Marcos, but an offensive explosion for the Cougars late in the second half would prove the difference as SSU fell 63-78. The Seawolves led most of the first half and were possession-for-possession with the Cougars to start the second, but 15 made three pointers to SSU's 2, helped to quickly extend San Marcos's lead and earn themselves the 15-point victory.
FIRST HALF | SSU 31-34 CSUSM:
San Marcos came out and established the three ball early, knocking down a trio of three pointers just within the first few minutes of the game. But the Seawolves would go stride-for-stride and make it a one-point game with a jumper from sophomore
Jaylen Wells and one-handed slam from junior
Dillon Iyawe.
Cal State San Marcos would connect on another pair of three balls nearing the ten-minute mark, and grab their largest lead of the half at five points. The reigning CCAA Player of the Week,
Jaylen Wells, would once again have an answer though as he went on a solo 7-0 scoring run to give the Seawolves a two-point lead. An acrobatic and-one finish off of a nice backdoor pass from Iyawe would highlight his scoring run.
Both teams would trade a pair of made free throws to end the half as San Marcos held a three-point lead at the break. Wells led all scorers with 18 points while also going perfect from the free throw line. Freshman guard
Nick Medeiros and junior forward
Austin Fadal would chip in for a combined 9 points as both Sonoma State and San Marcos would finish the half with 11 made field goals.
FINAL | SSU 63-78 CSUSM:
Both teams would trade blows to start the second half but two big three balls would once again extend the Cougars lead to five. After a pair of made free throws from Wells, SSU would get a stop and then Medeiros would cash in on a deep catch-and-shoot three ball to knot the game up at 40 just five minutes into the second half.
The 13-minute mark would prove to be a pivotal one as the Cougars would rattle off four three pointers and go on a momentous 14-2 run, sucking the air right out of the Wolves' Den and forcing an SSU timeout. In the blink of an eye, San Marcos built a 10-point lead with just under ten to play.
Despite plenty of time left in the half, San Marcos never let their foot off the gas and seemed to always have an answer for a made Seawolves bucket. Head coach
Rich Shayewitz and his group would cut the lead down to 6 after the timeout but that would be as close as they would get for the remainder of the game. The Cougars shot 53% from three point range, going 8-for-15 from that mark in the second half to build a lead as many as 15 points. San Marcos would end Sonoma State's 5-game win streak with a decisive 63-78 conference victory.
Nick Medeiros would have himself a quality game for SSU with a 7-point second half, finishing with 12 on the night.
Jaylen Wells would lead all scorers with his third 30-point game of the season. He also finished with 8 rebounds and went a staggering 14-for-14 from the free throw line, good for a new career high from the stripe.
BY THE NUMBERS:
The Seawolves played a relatively clean game defensively, only turning the ball over 9 times, good for a season low. But the small lineup from San Marcos posed problems out on the permitter, as the Cougars finished the game 15-for-28 from three-point land, making 8 of those in the second half.
Sonoma State continued to attack the rim all night as they outshot San Marcos from the free throw line, 21-9, but their lack of permitter shooting in the second half just wouldn't allow them to keep up with the Cougars. The Seawolves got into the bonus fist in each half but would convert just two made three pointers on the night. Their 21 made free throws would go down as a season high, finishing 91% as a team.
Lastly, the Cougars went ten deep on the night and saw three players finish in double figures. They would outscore the Seawolves bench 36-7, and finish with 11 more assists than SSU.
LOOKING AHEAD
Sonoma State drop their first game of the weekend home stand and fall to 7-8 overall, 6-3 in CCAA play. They return to the Wolves' Den this Saturday, January 14th, as they take on Cal State LA at 3:00 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 and tickets can be purchased at sonomaseawolves.com/tickets.
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
