SEASIDE, Calif. – A layup by Jayce McCain with two seconds remaining gave the Cal State San Marcos men’s basketball team (13-7, 12-3 CCAA) its seventh consecutive win with a 72-71 victory over Cal State Monterey Bay (8-11, 6-8 CCAA) on Thursday night at The Kelp Bed.
TOP PERFORMERS
Joel Mensah – 20 points | 6 rebounds
Edwyn Collins – 16 points | 7 rebounds | 2 steals
Greg Milton III – 13 points | 5 rebounds | 4 assists
Quinn Denker – 11 points | 4 rebounds | 3 assists
HOW IT HAPPENED
Tied at 10, a Levi Frankland 3-pointer and a driving layup by Jailen Nelson gave the Otters their largest lead of the game at 15-10 with 11:02 remaining in the first half.
An 11-0 run by the Cougars that was capped by a Collins turnaround jumper gave CSUSM a 21-15 lead with 8:55 to go in the period.
Down 28-27 at the 4:44 mark of the period, CSUSM ended the half on a 14-5 run.
CSUSM took a 41-33 lead to the locker room as it shot 48.7% (19-of-39) from the field while CSUMB came in at 42.9% (12-of-28).
Mensah and Collins each had a game-leading 11 points after the first 20 minutes.
A pull-up jumper by Milton to begin the second half gave the Cougars their first double-digit lead of the game at 43-33.
CSUSM took its largest lead of the game at 53-40 with another pull-up jumper by Milton with 15:11 remaining.
The Otters slowly chipped away at the Cougars’ lead and eventually retook the lead at 71-70 on a 3-pointer by Frankland with 1:34 left in the game.
After a CSUSM timeout with 5.5 on the clock, McCain grabbed the inbound in front of the Cougar bench and set a path to the basket where he put up the go-ahead layup with two ticks remaining.
A last-second half-court heave by Frankland fell short of the basket and handed CSUSM the win.
FAST BREAKS
CSUSM’s seven-game winning streak is the team’s second longest in the NCAA era (2015-present).
The Cougars scored 16 points off the Otters’ 13 turnovers.
CSUSM outrebounded CSUMB, 37-34.
The Cougars committed a season-low four turnovers while the Otters had 13.
Both teams each tallied 14 assists.
Mensah tied his career high in points with 20 – his second time doing so this season.
Collins set a season high with 16 points, entering double figures for the first time.
This was the smallest margin of victory by either team in the all-time series.
CSUSM now leads the all-time series 9-3 and is 4-2 when playing CSUMB in Seaside.
The victory secured the season sweep against the Otters.
With losses by both Sonoma State and Cal Poly Humboldt, CSUSM now has a four-game cushion for second place in the CCAA standings with seven games to go.
UP NEXT
CSUSM will end its trip up north with a visit to San Francisco State on Saturday at 3 p.m.
