SAN DIEGO – Capturing its first NCAA West Regional win in program history, the sixth-seeded Cal State San Marcos men’s basketball team (20-10) defeated third-seeded RV/RV Azusa Pacific (22-8) in the quarterfinals on Friday afternoon in Golden Gymnasium on the campus of Point Loma.
TOP PERFORMERS
Quinn Denker – 24 points | 10-of-11 FT | 5 rebounds | 5 assists | 3 steals
Jayce McCain – 19 points | 4 rebounds
Greg Milton III – 11 points | 4 rebounds | 2 steals
Joel Mensah – 8 points | 8 rebounds
HOW IT HAPPENED
Denker scored all of CSUSM’s first nine points and put the Cougars ahead 9-8 with a driving layup at the 15:19 mark.
Tied at 15-all, APU went on a 7-2 run and took a 22-17 lead on a Nate Kleppe 3-pointer with 9:47 to go in the half.
The Cougars retook the lead at 23-22 with a 6-0 run that was capped by a McCain driving layup with six minutes left in the period.
CSUSM had a 32-30 lead after 20 minutes as Jayce McCain led the team with 13 points.
The Cougars shot 40% (12-of-30) from the field in the first half while APU came in at 41.7% (10-of-24).
Of CSUSM’s 32 points in the first half, 11 came off turnovers.
Trailing 40-34 to begin the second half, CSUSM went on a 14-0 run thanks to a Milton 3-pointer, a driving layup by Milton, a Mensah jumper, a 3-pointer by Denker, a McCain turnaround jumper and a Denker jumper to take a 48-40 lead with 11:37 remaining.
APU never got closer than six points the rest of the way as free throws from Bryce Sloan cut the deficit to 48-42 with 11:26 to go.
CSUSM took its first double-digit lead of the game at 55-44 on a turnaround jumper by Milton off an APU turnover with 8:03 left.
After a dunk by APU’s Kleppe with 43 seconds remaining to cut CSUSM’s lead to nine at 64-55, a couple of free throws by Denker gave CSUSM a double-digit lead for good at 66-55 with 40 ticks remaining.
CSUSM shot 54.5% (12-of-22) from the field in the second half while holding APU to 36.7% (11-of-30).
FAST BREAKS
CSUSM ended the game shooting 46.2% (24-of-52) while APU finished at 38.9% )21-of-54).
Denker led CSUSM in scoring for the third consecutive game – all with 24 or more points.
CSUSM tallied a season-high five blocked shots.
Denker’s 10 made free throws were the most by a CSUSM player this season.
This was CSUSM’s first win over APU since Nov. 21, 2017 in San Marcos.
Head Coach B.J. Foster earned his 99th win as a head coach – all at CSUSM.
McCain inched even closer to the program’s all-time steals record of 147 held by Danny Redmon. With his one steal today, McCain is now at 145.
CSUSM tallied 11 steals to APU’s four.
CSUSM committed six fewer turnovers than APU (15-9).
APU won the battle of the boards at 38-31 and racked up more assists at 13-10.
Only 28 of CSUSM’s 72 points came in the paint.
CSUSM finished the game with 19 points off APU’s 15 turnovers.
CSUSM held the lead for 21:50 while APU had it for 12:19.
UP NEXT
In a rematch of the CCAA Tournament Championship game, CSUSM will face second-seeded No. 6/8 Cal State San Bernardino for the fourth time this season in the semifinals of the NCAA West Regional on Saturday at 5 p.m. in Golden Gymnasium.
