BOX SCORE

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SEASIDE, Calif. — In a battle of two teams playing extremely well on the offensive end, Sonoma State used a sizzling night from three–point range to hold off Cal State Monterey Bay 90–81 Saturday night in The Kelp Bed.

Senior guard Will Olsem capped an amazing weekend with his second consecutive 40–point game to help Sonoma State improve to 8–10 overall and 5–9 in the CCAA. Teammate Patrick Scott's 25 points were almost an afterthought by comparison.

CSUMB (8–13, 4–10) got a career–high 22 points from senior forward Kevin Loustale (Chico/Shasta College) and a 19–point, 5–assist night from senior guard Brandon Ward (Riverside/Woodcrest HS), who became the first Otter men's basketball player to surpass 1,100 career points Saturday (1,104).

Thanks to 21 points from Olsem, Sonoma led for most of the first half. As the Otter defense tightened around him, he kept stepping further and further back, draining several threes from well beyond NBA range to help the Seawolves take a 50–39 lead into halftime

Sonoma led by as many as 16 points at 61–45 five minutes into the second half when the Otters began chipping away at the deficit. Each time they did, however, Olsem responded to keep them at arm's length.

A short James Albert (San Bernardino/Aquinas HS) jumper cut the Sonoma's lead to 74–69 before Olsem drilled a three on the ensuing Seawolf possession. Alex Fertig (Fresno/Buchanan HS) hit a midrange jumper to get the Otters to within six the next trip down the floor only to see Olsem's backdoor layup wipe out the gain.

When Olsem made the last of his seven three–pointers at the 3:29 mark, the Sonoma lead was back to 10 points at 82–72 and the game appeared to be over. But long balls from Fertig and Julian Ball (Citrus Heights/Sierra College) got the Otters back to with five at 84–79. A stop by the Otter defense gave CSUMB the ball with a chance to make it a one possession game, but Loustale missed a pair of free throws and a Kris Gallop's (Vallejo/Los Medanos College) tip–in attempt of the second miss went off the rim to blunt the Otter comeback effort.

In addition to Loustale and Ward, Fertig chipped in 14 points and four assists. No Sonoma player other than Olsem and Scott scored in double figures Saturday.

CSUMB will continue its four–game homestand Friday night when it hosts Cal State L.A. for a 7:30 p.m. tip in The Kelp Bed.