ROHNERT PARK, CALIF. - On Saturday, December 2nd, the Sonoma State men's basketball team snapped a three game losing streak to defeat Cal State LA 78-68 and pick up their first conference win of the season. Transfers
Cameron Barry and
Andrew Henderson combined for 40 points on the night as the Seawolves held off a late surge from the Golden Eagles to hang on for the ten point victory.
The Seawolves got off to one of their best offensive starts of the season, jumping out to a seven point lead with a personal 8-0 from senior guard
Cameron Barry. Barry connected on a pair of three balls during that stretch forcing a quick Cal State LA timeout. Barry finished the first half 8-9 from the field for a team high 18 points.
Sloppy turnovers would keep the Golden Eagles in the game though as they came within a single possession multiple times throughout the middle portion of the half. LA would finish the game with 24 points off turnovers and SSU finished the first half with 12 turnovers, a team high this season.
Just under the five minute mark, Sonoma State would finally take control of the game after leading for the majority of the game with a pivotal 16-2 scoring run to conclude the half. That run also included eight straight points from College of the Canyons transfer
Andrew Henderson. Henderson has been the team's leading scorer through six games and showcased his one-on-one ability late in the half to finish with 10 points and give SSU a commanding 16 point lead at the break.
The Seawolves would lead by as many as 19 points but the Golden Eagles would chip away and again take advantage of another 12 turnovers in the second half. LA caught fire from beyond the arc and went on to hit seven three's in the second half, including four in a six minute span to cut the lead down to three.
SSU would find an answer every time the game got close with key buckets from
Damien Miller,
Dillon Iyawe and
Andrew Henderson who recorded another 11 points in the second half. Despite struggling from the line as a team, the Seawolves hit ten free throws in the second half with the majority coming late in the game to help grow the lead back to double digits. They would finish with a season high 18 made free throws.
Head coach
Rich Shayewitz and his group continue to defend at a high level as they held LA to just 35% shooting, the fourth time this season they've held their opponent to under 40% shooting. Henderson finished with a career high 21 points and 14 rebounds for his first double-double of his SSU career. Second year center
Dillon Iyawe continues to make strides with his game as he has finished in double figures in six of the team's seven games this season. He recorded 12 points and 9 rebounds in 28 minutes of action.
LOOKING AHEAD
Sonoma State grabbed their first conference win over Cal State LA, improving to 4-3 overall and 1-1 in CCAA play. They will remain home next week and take on rival Chico State on Thursday, December 7th at 7:30 PM. Specialty rivalry t-shirts will be given to the first 200 students in attendance. Tickets can be bought online at sonomaseawolves.com/tickets and you can stream the game LIVE 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
