MONTEREY, CALIF. – On Saturday, January 7th, the Sonoma State men's basketball team continued their impressive run and extended their win streak to five games with an 81-76 victory over Cal State Monterey Bay. Despite surrendering a late 13-point lead, clutch free throws down the stretch helped ice the game and secure their 6th win in conference play. 

FIRST HALF SSU 43-33 CSUMB

Another back-and-forth affair would kickoff this afternoon's game as both teams would work the game to a 27-27 tie under the ten-minute mark. The Seawolves were able to score inside and out on the perimeter in the first half with timely threes from Jaylen Wells and senior Nick Klarman. Dillon Iyawe also made his presence felt inside with an effective 15-point performance, 6 of those coming in the first half. 

After the game was knotted at 27, the Seawolves would go on a nice 6-2 run which included a strong drive and finish from Julian Bryant, sending him to the free throw line for the and-1 opportunity. Two possessions later Sonoma State would extend their lead to six after Wells would sky for a rebound and then take it the length of the floor before dishing it off nicely for an easy lay in for teammate Austin Fadal. 

The Seawolves would continue to get stops and force tough shots on the defensive side of the ball and at the two-minute mark, a defensive stop would turn into a step back three ball from Jaylen Wells, giving SSU their largest lead of the half at ten points. The Otters would get a chance to cut the lead to single digits in the closing seconds but great straight up defense from Nick Klarman would force a missed layup as time expired, maintaining SSU's 43-33 lead at the break.     

SECOND HALF SSU 81-76 CSUMB

Monterey Bay would come out of the half and get their offense going with back-to-back buckets to cut the lead to single digits but not before big man Dillon Iyawe would make a strong post move to convert the left-handed hook shot to end the Otters 4-0 run. Under the 17-minute mark, the Otters would convert a 3-point play to cut the deficit to just five but head coach Rich Shayewitz and his group would answer once again on the other end. 

Jaylen Wells would get the dribble handoff and fly to the hoop for the strong layup plus the foul. He would knock down the free throw as the Seawolves answered with a 3-point play of their own and extended their lead back to 8. On the other end, active hands from Nick Klarman would force a turnover from the Otters that would end in a crafty baseline floater from Austin Fadal to give the Seawolves a 10-point lead in the blink of an eye. 

Sonoma State would continue to maintain a double-digit lead for the majority of the second half, always seeming to have an answer to a Monterey bucket, but the Otters would finally find their stroke and hit some clutch threes under the three-minute mark to quickly cut the deficit to seven. In just a two-minute span, Monterey Bay would connect on a trio of three pointers to get them back in the game and make for an entertaining final minute and a half. 

The Seawolves had developed a 13-point lead with just three minutes to play and despite the late surge from the Otters, the clock would be against them as they were forced to foul after making it just a two-possession game. Fadal would step up and knock down the first pair of free throws but once again the Otters would come down with seconds remaining and hit a deep three from the top of the arc. Fadal would get the inbound after the timeout and draw the foul once again, hitting both free throws to ice the game and extend the lead to four with just 12 seconds on the clock. 

Sonoma State's defense would seal the game after the free throws, forcing two missed shots from Monterey before a rebound from Fadal to end the game. Despite a shaky end to the contest, the Seawolves controlled the game from start to finish and would go on to extend their win streak to five games, their first 5-game win streak since 2017. 

Center Dillon Iyawe and senior forward Nick Klarman would have some of their best games of the season as the two combined for 32 points, while Klarman led the team with 3 three pointers on the night. Iyawe's 15-point performance would also go down as a season high as he was an efficient 5-9 from the field. Wells would lead the charge with his incredible 8th 20-point performance of the season and back-to-back on the weekend. He would also add 8 rebounds, 2 steals and a block in 40 minutes of action. 

Some key injuries to SSU's bench would leave them with just a 7-man rotation in tonight's game but Damian Wallace and Julian Bryant would hold their own and contribute 10 points and 5 rebounds off the bench. Head coach Rich Shayewitz's relentlessness to attack the paint continues to pay off as the Seawolves outscored the Otters from the free throw line 20-2, with some clutch free throws down the stretch to seal the game. They would finish the game shooting 48% from the field and 42% from beyond the arc, good for third highest on the season.   

LOOKING AHEAD

Sonoma State sweep their CCAA road trip with wins over SF State and Cal State Monterey Bay, improving to 7-7 overall and 6-2 in conference play. The Seawolves will return to the Wolves' Den next week with home games against Cal State San Marcos on Thursday and Cal State LA on Saturday. 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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