TURLOCK - CALIF. - On Thursday, March 2nd, the Sonoma State men's basketball team exploded for a 44-point second half to win in decisive fashion, defeating Cal Poly Humboldt 73-57 in the CCAA Tournament quarterfinals! The Seawolves advance in the tournament for the first time since 2017 and will take on the #1 seed and the 8th ranked team in the nation in Cal State San Bernardino, tomorrow at 2:30 PM. SSU rode a big performance from the reigning conference player of the year,
Jaylen Wells, as well as three other double-digit scorers to secure the 16-point victory.
FIRST HALF SSU 29-30 HUM:
Head coach
Rich Shayewitz and his squad came out in their signature zone defense and saw immediate success with three early turnovers from the Lumberjacks offense, but a couple of tough contested jump shots would find the bottom of the net and help build an early 6-point lead for Humboldt.
An ensuing 6-0 run with back-to-back jumpers from freshman guard
Nick Medeiros would tie the game up at 11 in a hurry as SSU began to settle in offensively. After a pair of stops under the 12-minute media, Medeiros would stick another tough jumper and give the Seawolves a 3-point lead. Medeiros was a great contributor offensively in the first half, finishing with 9 big points to make it just a one point game at the break.
The conference's leading scorer
Jaylen Wells would score the team's final four points of the half including a killer pull-up jumper, leaving his defender in the dust as he rose up and stuck the elbow jumper to give the Seawolves a 29-28 lead. A late bucket from the Jacks would give them a one point lead heading into the half.
Shayewitz and the Seawolves would be pleased with their defensive effort in the first half, holding Humboldt to under 40% shooting, but a pair of missed layups and going 0-for-5 from three point range would leave some points out on the court in the first 20 minutes of action.
SECOND HALF SSU 73-57 HUM:
One key adjustment noticed right away from head coach
Rich Shayewitz was to attack the paint and get big man
Dillon Iyawe going inside. The Seawolves would run some nice action and feed Iyawe twice early in the post, allowing Iyawe to draw a pair of shooting fouls and hit all four free throws, giving SSU a 4-point lead.
Under the 14-minute mark, Sonoma State would find their groove offensively and build their largest lead of the game with three consecutive three balls, a pair from
Nick Klarman and a corner three from
Jaylen Wells.
When Cal Poly Humboldt needed it most, they would keep the game within reach and start to dominate the glass with some key offensive boards leading to second chance points. The Jacks would convert a three point play inside and cut the lead to just five with under 9 minutes to play.
A pull-up three ball from Wells would quickly end the Jacks momentum on the following possession as the game never got that close the rest of the way. Sonoma State would do an excellent job of keeping the ball and drawing some timely fouls from the Humboldt defense. They would get into the penalty with more than 6 minutes remaining and convert 14 free throws down the stretch to help build a lead as large as 18 points.
In fitting fashion, senior forward
Nick Klarman would put the exclamation point on the team's quarterfinal victory with a deep pull-up three ball with just over a minute remaining, igniting the Seawolves bench as they clinched their first tournament victory since 2017.
SSU would shoot 45% from the field in the second half and also knock down 5 three pointers to outscore the Jacks 44-27. The team's 28 made free throws went down as a season high as they finished an incredible 80% from the stripe as a team.
Four of the five starters for the Seawolves played over 30 minutes and accounted for 63 of the team's 73 points in the contest. Sophomore forward
Jaylen Wells would continue to showcase his immense talent as he went for 29 points on 50% shooting, and was an impressive 13-14 from the free throw line. He also added 9 rebounds and a pair of three balls as he exited the game in the final minute to a standing ovation from his teammates.
Nick Medeiros and
Austin Fadal each had some clutch buckets throughout the game, combining for 24 points. Senior
Nick Klarman would have his best game in nearly two months after returning from injury, finishing with 3 momentous three pointers to help build the Seawolves lead in the second half. Klarman would finish with 10 points and 5 rebounds, his first double-digit game since January 7th.
LOOKING AHEAD:
Sonoma State improves to 13-16 overall and will take on the top seeded Yotes of Cal State San Bernardino tomorrow afternoon at 2:30 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.
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
