SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The Cal State San Marcos men’s basketball team (6-5, 5-1 CCAA) began 2023 on the right foot by earning a 74-66 victory over Cal State LA (6-6, 3-3 CCAA) to secure the season series on Sunday afternoon at The Sports Center.
TOP PERFORMERS
Joel Mensah – 14 rebounds | 11 points
Greg Milton III – 13 points | 4 rebounds | 4 assists
Quinn Denker – 13 points | 4 assists | 4 steals
Lyle Sutton – 13 points | 1 rebound | 1 assist
HOW IT HAPPENED
Up 10-7 following a Milton jumper with 13:47 to go in the half, CSUSM let LA score six consecutive points to give the Golden Eagles their first lead of the game at 13-10 on a jumper by Shane Bell.
The Cougars powered by the Golden Eagles with a 16-3 run to take their first double-digit lead at 26-16 after a 3-pointer by Denker with 6:20 to go in the half.
A layup by Sutton at the 4:58 mark of the first period gave CSUSM its largest lead of the game as the Cougars went up by 13 at 32-19.
LA cut CSUSM’s halftime lead to 37-31 with a 12-5 run to end the period.
The Cougars shot 56% (14-of-25) to end the half while the Golden Eagles clocked in at 42.9% (12-of-28).
LA’s Alexander Sokol led all scorers with 14 points after playing all 20 minutes of the first half.
After Bell opened the second half with a layup off a CSUSM turnover to make it 37-33 with 19:08 to play, both teams stayed within four points of each other and traded the lead four times until a second-chance jumper by Denker gave the Cougars a six-point lead at 66-60 with 2:46 to go.
CSUSM once again took a 10-point lead following a pair of free throws by Mensah at 74-64 with 27 ticks remaining.
Jared Pearre made the game’s final basket to cut LA’s deficit to eight.
FAST BREAKS
CSUSM had a perfect homestand with four consecutive wins.
The Cougars have now won the last five games against the Golden Eagles and six of the last seven.
This is the second consecutive season in which CSUSM has won the season series against LA.
With a win and a Cal Poly Humboldt loss, CSUSM now sits all by itself in second in the CCAA standings.
Mensah’s 14 rebounds and seven made free throws were both career highs.
This was Mensah’s second double-double performance of the season.
The Cougars ended the game shooting 56.3% (27-of-48), their second-highest percentage from the field this season.
CSUSM committed season-high 14 turnovers while LA’s 10 were the fewest by a Cougar opponent this season.
Jayce McCain broke the CSUSM school record for most career games played with 64, topping Adam Eakles’ mark of 63 set in 2013.
Head Coach B.J. Foster joins @JonathanRifkind to discuss CSUSM’s New Year’s Day victory over Cal State LA. #BleedBlue pic.twitter.com/34rPTCNPTi
– CSUSM Men’s Basketball (@CSUSM_MBB) January 2, 2023
UP NEXT
Second-place CSUSM will begin a four-game road trip by visiting first-place Cal State San Bernardino on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
