ROHNERT PARK, CALIF. - On Thursday, February 16th, the Sonoma State men's basketball team ended their two-game skid with a crucial CCAA victory over Cal Poly Pomona, jumping them into a tie for third place with Cal Poly Humboldt with just three games remaining. The Seawolves took home a 10-point win with some solid defense and an explosive 30-point performance from
Jaylen Wells. He would also add 11 rebounds for his 8th double-double of the season and his second with at least 30 points.
FIRST HALF SSU 32-29 CPP:
After three straight games with fewer than 20 points, sophomore forward
Jaylen Wells would get off to a blistering start, going 4-for-4 from the field to score the Seawolves first 8 points of the game. After an early timeout, the Broncos would respond with four straight points of their own to make it just a two-point game.
Both teams would struggle to shoot the ball out of the gate, but Cal Poly Pomona would flip the script around the six minute mark and force a pair of SSU turnovers to take a 7-point lead. Back-to-back layups on the fastbreak would give them their largest lead of the half, but the Seawolves would close on a momentous 12-2 scoring run to take a three point lead at the break. Big man
Dillon Iyawe would contribute four points during that stretch and
Jaylen Wells would convert a terrific 4-point play after hitting a corner three ball with 16 seconds left in the half. The closing defender would crash into Wells as he splashed home the three ball. He would knock down the free throw to finish the half with an impactful 16 points and 5 boards.
Just one made field goal and an extra free throw would be the difference at the break, the Broncos shooting 41% and the Seawolves at 46%. Junior forward
Pierce Rexford would also hit a pair of three pointers to finish the half with 8 points.
FINAL SSU 60-50 CPP:
The lead would continue to build in the second half as the Seawolves started out on a 13-8 run, giving them their largest lead of the game at 8 points. Rebounding and defense, the staples of sound basketball, would carry Sonoma State in the second half as they held Pomona to just 37% shooting, only converting 7 made field goals.
Wells would come out of the half and record three of SSU's first four made shots to jump his point total to 23. Just under the 12-minute mark,
Julian Bryant would force a Broncos timeout with a breakaway dunk off of the inbounds turnover. Bryant would finish the night with 4 points and 4 rebounds.
The whistle would begin to pick up in the second half as well but the Seawolves were able to outscore the Broncos from the stripe 17-10 and would convert 12 free throws in the second half alone to help build a double-digit lead. Adding to the solid free throw shooting was also some big rebounding numbers from Wells and Iyawe. Iyawe would tie the game high with 11 rebounds on the night, good for his 4th game of the season with 10+ rebounds while Wells would add 11 boards of his own. The Seawolves would force tough shots all second half and out rebound Pomona 38-26 in the game.
Four different SSU players would finish the game perfect from the free throw line as well. The dagger for the Broncos would come under the four minute mark as Wells would leak out to the corner and knock down a catch-and-shoot three ball from
Austin Fadal, giving the Seawolves a 13-point lead, their largest of the game.
Four made free throws from Iyawe and Fadal would ice the game as Sonoma State secured a crucial CCAA victory, 60-50 over Cal Poly Pomona.
Pierce Rexford would finish the game as the only other Seawolf in double figures with 10 points and a pair of three pointers.
BY THE NUMBERS:
| Sonoma State |
Team |
Cal Poly Pomona |
| 41.3 |
FG% |
34.0 |
| 31.3 |
3PT% |
22.2 |
| 17-19 |
FT |
10-12 |
| 12 |
TO |
10 |
| 38 |
Reb. |
26 |
| 31:16 |
Time with lead |
06:48 |
LOOKING AHEAD:
Sonoma State improves to 11-14 overall and pick up their 10th win in conference play. They will play their final home game of the season on Saturday, February 18th at 3:00 PM, as they take on the 12th ranked Yotes of Cal State San Bernardino. Saturday will also be senior day for the Seawolves as we honor
Damian Wallace,
Preston Blakely, and
Nick Klarman. 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.
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
