December 12, 2008
Box Score
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Senior #Steve Monreal#'s free throws in the last minute clinched an 85-78 Cal State Monterey Bay victory over the Academy of Art Urban Knights in the opening game of the San Francisco State Invitational on Friday, Dec. 12.
The Otters remain unbeaten at 7-0 overall, while the Urban Knights drop to 0-6 on the season.
The Urban Knights jumped out to an early 8-2 lead in the opening five minutes as the Otters missed their first five shots of the game.
Monreal's 3-pointer at 8:48 gave the Otters their first lead, 17-15, of the game. Junior #Dante Green# scored an old fashion 3-pointer to raise the Otters lead.
Senior #Jose Sanchez# made his presence felt with 16 points, connecting on three baskets from beyond the arc, as the Otters took a 44-39 lead to the halftime locker room.
AAU tied the score at 46-46 on a jumper by Samuels at the 17:49 mark.
The Otters then went on a 21-6 run to go up 67-52 after a 3-pointer by senior #Stephen Becker# with 11:47 remaining. The Urban Knights pulled to within one at 73-72 on a triple by J.R. Cassita with 3:42 left on the clock, but Green's layup prevented the lead change.
After two 3-point misses in a row, AAU's Weleh Dennis converted on a four-point play as the Otters lead diminished to 82-78.
As occurred in previous games this season, Monreal's free throw shooting once again came into play in the final minute of the game. He made 5-of-6 at the charity stripe to guarantee an Otter win.
Sanchez paced the Otters with a game-high 21 points and four three-pointers. Monreal added 18 points.
Earning his third double-double this year, senior #Joe Mitchell#'s 14 points carried him over the 750 career point milestone. He registered 10 rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots.
With the addition of Green's 12 points, CSUMB has had four players score double digits in their last four games.
CSUMB was outrebounded for the first time this season, losing the battle of the boards, 45-40.
“I think we may have thought it was going to be easy, ,” said Otter head coach
Rob Bishop. “Academy of Art came out and played very hard.”
“I am happy we got the victory, and now we need to get ready for a very good Concordia team tomorrow night.”
The Otters take on NAIA No. 4 Concordia University, Irvine on Saturday, Dec. 13 at 5:30 p.m.
Cal State Monterey Bay vs Academy of Art
12/12/08 3:00 pm at San Francisco, Calif.(Main Gymnasium)
Cal State Monterey Bay 85, ACADEMY OF ART 78
Cal State Monterey Bay (7-0)
SANCHEZ, Jose 8-17 1-2 21; MONREAL, Steve 5-13 6-7 18; MITCHELL, Joe 5-12
4-6 14; GREEN, Dante 5-6 2-2 12; FREEMAN, Warren 3-5 0-0 6; RAY, Trevor 1-4
3-4 5; BECKER, Stephen 1-7 0-0 3; WILLIAMS, Shaun 1-6 0-1 2; JONES, Kris 1-1
0-0 2; WILSON, Keith 1-2 0-0 2; MULLINS, Trey 0-0 0-0 0; HOUSTON, Ron 0-0
0-0 0. Totals 31-73 16-22 85.
ACADEMY OF ART (0-7)
Crawford, Marqus 5-10 10-12 20; Samuels, Phillip 5-14 7-9 18; Dennis, Weleh
3-9 5-6 14; Cassita, J.R 4-12 0-0 12; Smith, Dominique 2-6 3-4 8; Dobson,
Lorenzo 2-6 0-0 4; Hayden, Hunter 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 22-60 25-31 78.
CSUMB......................... 44 41 - 85
Academy of Art................ 39 39 - 78
3-point goals--CSUMB 7-24 (SANCHEZ, Jose 4-9; MONREAL, Steve 2-7; BECKER,
Stephen 1-4; RAY, Trevor 0-2; WILLIAMS, Shaun 0-1; WILSON, Keith 0-1),
Academy of Art 9-24 (Cassita, J.R 4-9; Dennis, Weleh 3-6; Smith, Dominique
1-2; Samuels, Phillip 1-5; Hayden, Hunter 0-1; Crawford, Marqus 0-1). Fouled
out--CSUMB-WILSON, Keith, Academy of Art-Cassita, J.R. Rebounds--CSUMB 40
(MITCHELL, Joe 10), Academy of Art 45 (Dobson, Lorenzo 8; Samuels, Phillip
8). Assists--CSUMB 14 (MONREAL, Steve 4; MITCHELL, Joe 4), Academy of Art 13
(Dennis, Weleh 5). Total fouls--CSUMB 25, Academy of Art 20. Technical
fouls--CSUMB-None, Academy of Art-None. A-109
GAME ONE OF SF STATE INVITATIONAL
#11 Hunter Hayden ejected (6:16 first half)
