No. 11/12 Cougars Match Program-Best Start in 70-61 Win at CSULA
1/2/2022 | Men’s Basketball | Box Score
LOS ANGELES – The No. 11/12 Cal State San Marcos men’s basketball team (10-0, 6-0 CCAA) tied its best start in program history by earning a 70-61 win on the road at Cal State LA (3-9, 0-6 CCAA) on Sunday.
TOP PERFORMERS
Greg Milton III – 18 points | 4-of-9 3FG | 4 rebounds | 3 assists
Jayce McCain – 15 points | 6-of-6 FT | 5 assists | 4 rebounds
Tyrone Nesby IV – 11 points | 4 steals | 3 rebounds
HOW IT HAPPENED
CSUSM took its largest lead of the half at the 16:43 mark as a 3-pointer by Milton gave the Cougars an 11-4 lead.
The Golden Eagles slowly chipped away at the Cougars lead before taking their first lead of the game at 23-22 on a 3-pointer by Sean Estes with 7:37 remaining in the half.
A 3-pointer by Lyle Sutton gave CSUSM a 36-30 lead with 1:27 left in the half, but LA ended the half on a 5-0 run to bring its deficit to 36-35 at the break.
Milton led the Cougars with 11 points and four rebounds in the first half.
CSUSM shot 43.8% from the field while holding CSULA to 37.9%.
The Golden Eagles began the second period on a 9-3 run to take their largest lead of the contest at 44-38 thanks to an Elisha Duplechan bucket in the paint with 16 minutes to go.
CSUSM battled back to retake the lead at 49-48 as Joel Mensah got a jumper in the paint to go with 12:40 remaining.
LA took its final lead at the 10:18 mark as Dominic Escobar drained a 3-pointer to put the Golden Eagles up 53-52.
The Cougars retook the lead for good thanks to an 11-2 run that was capped by a second-chance jumper by Sean Dunn that put CSUSM up 63-55 with 4:37 to go.
CSUSM took its largest lead of the game at 68-58, putting the game out of reach on a 3-pointer by Milton with 2:58 to play.
Despite being outshot 45.5%-37% in the second half, CSUSM scored 13 points off LA’s 10 turnovers while getting seven points from second-chance buckets.
FAST BREAKS
CSUSM’s 10-0 record matches the team’s best-ever start as the 2014-15 squad also began the year with 10 consecutive wins in the program’s final year of NAIA play.
This is the first time CSUSM or CSULA has ever swept a season series against each other.
CSUSM ended the game shooting 42.9% (24-of-56) while LA came in at 41.2% (21-of-51).
The Cougars used the Golden Eagles’ 16 turnovers to their advantage as they scored 19 points off them.
CSUSM won the steal battle for the ninth time this season at 12-5.
The Cougars ended the game with just seven turnovers and have tallied single digits in the category in three of the last four games.
CSUSM’s 17 assists tied for the second most in a game this season.
This was Milton’s third consecutive game as the Cougars’ leading scorer and fourth time overall. He also led with 18 points in CSUSM’s first meeting with CSULA.
Duplechan led all scorers with 20 points while Adrease Jackson tallied a double-double for the Golden Eagles with 16 rebounds and 10 points.
CSUSM drained nine 3-pointers for the contest and has now tallied eight or more in eight of their 10 games this season.
The Cougars spent 29:54 with the lead while LA clocked in at 8:59.
UP NEXT
CSUSM will look to earn its best start in program history outright as it returns to The Sports Center on Thursday to face Humboldt State (8-4, 2-4 CCAA) at 7:30 p.m.
