HAYWARD, CALIF. - On Saturday, February 24th, the Sonoma State men's basketball team duked it out with Cal State East Bay and massive playoff implications on the line. In a must-in scenario, the Seawolves put up a season high 85 points, 48 of which came in the second half, en route to a 13-point victory. Unfortunately, Sonoma State would find out after the game that San Francisco State had beaten Cal State San Marcos which clinched the 6th and final spot in the CCAA Tournament. SSU's defeat to the Gators on Thursday proved costly as they went into Saturday night holding the season tiebreaker. Head coach
Rich Shayewitz and his group needed a win and an SF State loss to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Despite missing the team's leading scorer in
Andrew Henderson, SSU exploded with a great team offensive performance led by junior forward
Julian Bryant. Bryant took advantage of seeing more of the ball and put up a career high 25 points along with 8 rebounds. Senior point guard
Damien Miller also stepped up with a career high 16 points and 6 assists for his best offensive performance of the season. Taking Henderson's place in the starting lineup was junior forward
Matt Williams III. Williams made just his 3rd start of the season and also had a stellar night, shooting over 50% from the field and finishing with 15 points and a career high 9 rebounds.
Both teams got off to good starts offensively and traded leads throughout the half but the Seawolves would close on a 10-2 scoring run which included a smooth pull-up jumper from Bryant to extend their lead to 6 at the half. Williams also had a pair of layups during that stretch to give him 9 first half points.
After a three from Cal State East Bay to open up the second half, SSU would respond with a 6-0 run to push the lead back to 9. Bryant and Williams tag-teamed once again during the scoring run and
Damien Miller got in on the action with a fast break layup of his own. Sonoma State kept their foot on the gas and held a lead as many as 15 on the night. Bryant led the surge with 17 second half points to lead all scorers.
Despite just shooting 2-9 from three, the Seawolves attacked the paint at will, outscoring the Pioneers 54-38. The aggressive play style resulted in shooting over 60% from the field in the second half and 21 made field goals.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Seawolves were officially eliminated from postseason contention Saturday night but will look to conclude the regular season on a high note with a home game against Cal State San Marcos. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 PM on Thursday, February 29th. Tickets can be bought online at sonomaseawolves.com 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
