SEASIDE, Calif. – The No. 23/18 Cal State San Marcos men’s basketball team (8-0, 4-0 CCAA) kept up its winning ways with a 76-68 victory in its first road game of the season at Cal State Monterey Bay (3-3, 2-1 CCAA) on Thursday night at The Kelp Bed.
TOP PERFORMERS
Greg Milton III – 26 points | 10-of-15 FG | 8 rebounds
Blake Seits – 17 points | 4 rebounds | 2 assists
Jayce McCain – 10 points | 5 rebounds | 2 assists
Joel Mensah – 9 points | 9 rebounds | 4-of-4 FG
HOW IT HAPPENED
A good 3-pointer with 9:14 to play by McCain gave the Cougars their largest lead of the half at 26-18.
With CSUSM up 32-24, CSUMB went on an 11-2 run to go up 35-34 with 1:16 remaining in the half.
Staying within a point of each other, the Otters’ Noah Stapes hit a jumper as time expired to give CSUMB a 39-38 lead heading into the break.
Milton and Seits had a game-high 11 points after 20 minutes while the Cougars shot 51.7% (15-of-29) compared to the Otters’ 50% (15-of-30).
Helping CSUMB achieve its halftime lead was a 6-of-13 (46.2%) performance from beyond the arc.
The Cougars came out of the locker room and started the second half with a 17-6 run to go up 55-45 after a good layup by Milton with 14:24 to go.
CSUSM took its largest lead of the contest at 64-50 as Mensah put the Cougars up by 14 on a second-chance basket with 9:06 to play.
A 10-3 run by the Otters made it 67-60 after J.R. Schilling made a second-chance layup with 3:35 remaining.
The Cougars maintained at least seven points between themselves and the Otters over the final three and a half minutes to chalk up their eighth consecutive win.
After a hot first half, CSUMB was held to just 30.3% (10-of-33) from the field in the second half while shooting a dismal 8.3% (1-of-12) from three.
FAST BREAKS
The Cougars’ 8-0 start to the season is their best in the Division II era.
Tonight was CSUSM’s first-ever 4-0 start in CCAA play.
CSUSM led for all but 1:15.
The Cougars edged out a 41-40 rebound advantage.
CSUSM ended the game shooting 46.8% (29-of-62) from the field while CSUMB clocked in at 39.7% (25-of-63).
Milton was one bucket shy of tying his career high for points as he netted 28 for Wyoming against Air Force in 2019-20. However, his 10 made field goals were a career high.
Mensah’s nine rebounds were a career high while his nine points tied his career best.
The Cougars are now 7-2 in the all-time series against the Otters and are 3-2 when playing in Seaside.
This was CSUSM’s first win at CSUMB since Jan. 13, 2018.
With his 530th career point, Seits entered CSUSM’s top-10 list – tying Malcolm Lemmons (2013-14).
UP NEXT
The No. 23/18 Cougars will now head to San Francisco State (4-5, 2-1 CCAA) to conclude CCAA play for the calendar year. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. on Saturday.
