SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – In its third consecutive overtime game, the No. 4/5 Cal State San Marcos men’s basketball team (13-1, 9-1 CCAA) suffered its first loss of the season against No. 5/10 Cal State San Bernardino (14-1, 8-1 CCAA) by a score of 74-64 on Saturday afternoon at Coussoulis Arena.
TOP PERFORMERS
Greg Milton III – 33 points | 4 rebounds | 3 steals | 2 assists
Joel Mensah – 12 points | 3 rebounds | 2 blocked shots
Alex Gil-Fernandez – 6 points | 6 assists
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Coyotes put up an early 9-2 lead before the Cougars clawed their way back to go up 18-17 on a Milton layup with 6:55 to go in the half.
CSUSB ended the first half on an 18-6 run and took a 35-24 lead to the locker room behind Daytone Jennings’ 12 points.
CSUSM shot just 31.4% (11-of-35) from the floor in the first half and were 0-of-7 from beyond the arc. On the other hand, CSUSB shot 45.5% from the field.
Down 38-26 in the first minute of the second half, CSUSM went on an 11-2 run to bring it within three at 40-37 with 15:10 to play.
A jumper by Mensah off a Coyote turnover brought the deficit down to one at 46-45 with 8:39 to go.
A pair of free throws and a jumper by Milton gave CSUSM its first lead since the first half at 49-47 with 7:20 remaining.
Both sides stayed within a point of each other until CSUSB’s Darius Mickens made a fast-break layup with 3:53 left to play to give the Coyotes a 58-55 lead.
With CSUSB up 61-60, Milton made a layup and free throw with 14 second remaining to give CSUSM a 63-61 lead.
With five seconds on the clock, the Coyotes’ Brandon Knapper was fouled on a 3-point attempt. After making his first free throw, he missed his second and made his third to send the game to overtime.
CSUSM shot 50% (13-of-26) in the second half while holding CSUSB to 38.5% (10-of-26).
The overtime period was all CSUSB as the Cougars scored just one point on a made free throw.
FAST BREAKS
Milton’s 33 points tied for the eighth most in program history and were the most by a Cougar since Ethan Alvano’s 38 against Cal State Monterey Bay on Jan. 13, 2018.
This was the second time in program history that the Cougars played in three consecutive overtime games. CSUSM last did it in 2015-16 against BYU-Hawaii, Chaminade and Humboldt State.
CSUSM’s 34.8% (24-of-69) performance from the field was its worst of the season. The Cougars had shot no worse than 40.9% coming into today’s game.
CSUSM was outrebounded 50-33 – its largest deficit of the year.
The Cougars tallied a double-digit steal total for the sixth time this season as they ended up with 12.
The game saw 14 lead changes with six ties.
CSUSM’s time with the lead of 3:31 was its least of the season.
The Cougars’ 13-game winning streak ends as the second longest in program history.
With the CCAA standings being decided by winning percentage this season, CSUSM is still first at .900 with CSUSB staying in second at .889.
UP NEXT
The Cougars will return to The Sports Center on Thursday to face San Francisco State at 7:30 p.m.
