SAN MARCOS, Calif. – Another strong performance by the Cal State San Marcos men’s basketball team (2-0) led to a 76-60 victory over Saint Martin’s (1-1) in the final game of the CSUSM Hoops Classic on Saturday afternoon at The Sports Center.
TOP PERFORMERS
Blake Seits – 27 points | 10-of-18 FG | 6-of-12 3FG
Jayce McCain – 22 points | 11-of-16 | 7 assists
Tyrone Nesby IV – 12 points | 8 rebounds | 2 assists
Alex Gil-Fernandez – 10 points | 4 rebounds
HOW IT HAPPENED
Close early, CSUSM went on a 9-0 run to take a 21-11 lead after Seits drained a three with 11:51 remaining in the first half.
The Cougars took their largest lead of the half at 37-21 after a layup from Sean Dunn.
CSUSM closed the first half with a 44-30 lead over SMU as Seits and McCain put up 19 and 12 points, respectively.
The Cougars were 19-of-40 (47.5%) in the first 20 minutes and 5-of-15 (33.3%) from three – all of which were made by Seits.
The Saints were 12-of-23 (52.2%) in the first half but were plagued by 10 turnovers.
The Cougars began the second half on a 10-3 run to go up 54-33 after Seits made one of his two free throws with 16:06 to play.
CSUSM took a 23-point lead – its largest of the game - with 4:56 remaining in the second half after a made layup by Seits put the Cougars up 74-51.
The Saints never made a dent in the Cougars’ lead, only getting within 14 points at the beginning of the second half.
The Cougars were 14-of-26 (53.8%) from the field in the second half while the Saints dropped to 10-of-25 (40%).
FAST BREAKS
This is the first time since the start of the 2015-16 season that CSUSM has recorded back-to-back wins to begin a season.
McCain’s 22 points tied his career high as he previously put up the same total in 2019-20 against both Cal State LA and Cal Poly Pomona. His 11 made field goals against the Saints were a career high.
Seits’ 10 made field goals tied his career high set in 2019-20 against Cal State Monterey Bay.
Seits’ 88 made 3-point field goals now rank sixth all-time at CSUSM.
Four of the five scoring Cougars were in double figures.
Half of CSUSM’s 76 points came in the paint.
SMU outrebounded CSUSM 34-29.
The Cougars led for all but 42 seconds of the game with only one tie score occurring.
Head Coach BJ Foster credits his team’s chemistry for the Cougars’ 2-0 start. #BleedBlue pic.twitter.com/cramd3jcCr
– CSUSM Men’s Basketball (@CSUSM_MBB) November 14, 2021
UP NEXT
CSUSM will continue its seven-game homestand to begin the season by once again facing Montana State Billings (1-1) on Monday at 7 p.m. in The Sports Center.
