SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF. – On Thursday, January 5th, the Sonoma State men's basketball team won their fourth straight game in a conference road matchup against San Francisco State. The Seawolves defense showed up once again holding the Gators to just 35% shooting and a season low 23-point second half. Just three players in the entire game would finish with double figures as SSU held their opponent to under 60 points for the third time this season. 

FIRST HALF SSU 29-28 SF STATE:

Both teams would kickoff the game exchanging early buckets nearing the 12-minute mark, but a 10-3 run with back-to-back three balls for the Gators would give them an early 5-point lead. Sonoma State would answer though and limit the momentum with a three ball of their own to cut the lead back down to two. After a near turnover, junior forward Austin Fadal would pick up the loose ball and knock down a tough three ball with the shot clock winding down. 

SF State would hold a lead by as many as six points in the first half but SSU would fight their way back and eventually knot the game up at 20 a piece at the five minute mark off of a tough fade away jumper from veteran senior Nick Klarman. Both teams would trade buckets once again in the final minutes and exchange leads, but a crucial steal from Jaylen Wells on the defensive side would lead to a pull up jumper from Julian Bryant, giving the Seawolves a 29-28 lead at the break. 

FINAL SSU 59-51 SF STATE:

The Gators were able to hit five three's in the second half to keep the game close but SSU's defense stood strong and held SF to just 9 made field goals in the second half. After trading early buckets, back-to-back three balls for SF State would allow them to retake a one-point lead but the conference's leading scorer, Jaylen Wells, would hit a big catch-and-shoot three off some great ball movement from the Seawolves offense, giving SSU a two-point lead. 

For the next six minutes, the lead would never get more than five points as the game continued to be tightly contested down the stretch. At the ten-minute mark, The Seawolves would finally gain some distance over the Gators and go on a 7-0 run to gain a six-point lead. Off the dribble penetration, Wells would kick it out to an open Klarman for a wing triple. Once again back-to-back jumpers from the Gators would pull them right back into it but Klarman would find his stroke and connect on another three ball to give SSU a 51-46 lead. 

After a couple defensive stops, head coach Rich Shayewitz and would draw up a great play, slipping Wells to the hoop for the tough lay in, giving the Seawolves a 7-point lead and forcing a Gators timeout with just 7:30 to play. 

SF State's 5th three ball of the half would prove to be a big one as they went on a 5-0 run after the timeout to make it just a two-point game. Sonoma State would show great execution down the stretch though and their ability to attack the rim would force some crucial Gator fouls and allow SSU to knock down clutch free throws. Jaylen Wells and Damian Wallace would each knock down a pair of free throws to extend the lead to six with under a minute to play. Junior forward Julian Bryant would go on to ice the game on the very next possession as he picked the pocket of the SF State point guard near mid court. Bryant would streak to the bucket and lay it in himself, giving the Seawolves the 8-point victory. 

Sonoma State would shoot just 36% from the field in the second half but another quality defensive performance capped off with a clutch steal to seal the game would highlight the team's 4th straight win and 5th win in conference action. 

Jaylen Wells and Nick Klarman would lead the way offensively for the Seawolves as Wells recorded his 5th double-double of the season, finishing with a game high 23-points. Klarman would put together one of his more complete performance of the season as he finished with 15-points and 7 rebounds. Klarman snaps a bit of a shooting slump as he went for double figures for the first time since November 27th against Holy Names and connected on 3 three pointers for the first time since November 13th against Academy of Art. Julian Bryant would come off the bench for a productive 27 minutes of action, finishing with 8 points and two steals. 

NOTABLE FIGURES:

Sonoma State was aggressive on the glass all night as they out rebounded SF State 41-28, good for their second highest rebound total on the season. As a result, they outscored the Gators on second chance points 18-4. 

Clutch free throws down the stretch for the Seawolves would put the game out of reach but 14 lead changes would showcase a tightly contested game all night.   

Head coach Rich Shayewitz continues to make strides from last season as he has his group sitting in a tie for second place in the conference standings, rank as a top-5 offense, and have the conference's leading scorer in sophomore phenom Jaylen Wells who is currently averaging 21.3 points. The Seawolves also record their first 4-game win streak since the 2018-19 season.  

Sonoma State get their CCAA road trip off to a good start with a 59-51 victory over SF State to extend their win streak to four games. The Seawolves improve to 6-7 overall and 5-2 in CCAA play. The Seawolves will close out the weekend against Cal State Monterey Bay in the Kelp Bed on Saturday, January 7th 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. 

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