Cougars Defeat Seawolves to Earn First CCAA Win of Season

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SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The Cal State San Marcos men’s basketball picked up its first California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) victory of the 2019-20 season by earning a 67-59 win over Sonoma State on Thursday night at The Sports Center.

TOP PERFORMERS
Blake Seits – 20 points | 3 rebounds
Marcus Brown – 13 points | 2 rebounds | 2 blocked shots
Khalil Fuller – 12 points | 7 rebounds | 2 assists
Darae Elliott – 10 points | 4 rebounds

HOW IT HAPPENED •Down 12-6 in the first half, CSUSM went on an 11-0 run to go up 17-12 with 13:05 remaining in the first half.
•The Seawolves battled back to knot the score at 27-all with 4:17 remaining in the first period.
•After a CSUSM foul, SSU’s Kenny Olsem drained a pair of free throws to give the Seawolves a 31-29 lead.
•The Cougars and Seawolves then traded leads five times until Seits nailed a three with 1:05 remaining in the half to put CSUSM up 37-35.
•An Alex Gil-Fernandez jumper with three seconds remaining gave CSUSM a 39-35 lead at the half.
•The Cougars shot 55.6% (15-of-27) from the field in the first half while the Seawolves came in with 52% (13-of-25).
•CSUSM took its largest lead of the game at 55-41 with 13:11 remaining in the game.
•Down 63-49, SSU went on a 10-0 to cut CSUSM’s lead to 63-59 with 1:07 remaining.
•The Cougars put the game away in the final 38 seconds with a jumper by Seits and a layup by Bryce Sloan.
•CSUSM shot 44% (11-of-25) from the field in the second half while holding SSU to 32% (8-of-25).

FAST BREAKS •CSUSM improves to 5-5 (1-3 CCAA) while SSU drops to 4-4 (2-1 CCAA).
•The Cougars held the advantage in rebounds (32-27), assists (13-9), steals (7-5) and blocked shots (3-2).
•CSUSM now holds a 5-3 advantage in the all-time series against SSU and is 3-2 in The Sports Center against the Seawolves.
•The Cougars led for 33:29 while the Seawolves led for just 5:19 in the game.
•CSUSM had a 38-14 advantage for points in the paint.
•This was Seits’ second consecutive game with at least 20 points.

Head Coach B.J. Foster credits the Cougars defensive efforts to tonight’s CCAA win over @SonomaSeawolves. #BleedBlue #GoCCAA #NCAAD2 pic.twitter.com/AX2c5cmHEG
– CSUSM Men’s Basketball (@CSUSM_MBB) December 6, 2019

Junior Marcus Brown talks about the teams energy and defensive focus in tonight’s win over @SonomaSeawolves.#BleedBlue #GoCCAA #NCAAD2 pic.twitter.com/w1NxQPY4uG
– CSUSM Men’s Basketball (@CSUSM_MBB) December 6, 2019

UP NEXT
CSUSM will return to action in two weeks as it travels to Cal Poly Pomona on Thursday, Dec. 19. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.