FULL NOTEBOOK IN PDF FORMAT


SEASIDE, Calif. -- After three consecutive narrow losses, the Cal State Monterey Bay men's basketball team will look to ring out 2011 with a victory when it visits Cal State East Bay Friday (Dec. 30) for a 6 p.m. tipoff. The game will be the first of five consecutive road games for the Otters.

If you can't make the trip, be sure to catch all of the action live on KION 1460 AM. Ron Ponce will call the play-by-play courtside at Pioneer Gym.


SCOUTING THE PIONEERS: Cal State East Bay has been on a small rollercoaster this season, alternating streaks of two wins and two losses over the past six weeks. Like CSUMB, the Pioneers were swept by L.A. area teams the week before Christmas, losing 77–73 to Cal State Dominguez Hills and 71–64 to Cal State L.A. Junior guard Mark Samuels leads the Pioneer offense at 18.7 points per game. Las Positas College transfer Nick Marshall tops the rebounders at 6.8 rpg.

STATS TO WATCH: Cal State East Bay entered Christmas break ranked 24th nationally in steals (10.0 spg) and 26th nationally in free throw percentage (76.8). On the flip side the Pioneers ranked a dismal 273rd of 296 NCAA Division II teams in rebounding margin (–9.2).

WHEN LAST WE MET: The Otters snapped a four–game losing streak to Cal State East Bay by sweeping the season series in 2010–11. That included an 83–64 win in Pioneer Gym on Feb. 3. Davion Berry led four Otters in double figures with 30 points while James Albert (San Bernardino/Aquinas HS) added a career–high 12 points and a then career–high seven rebounds. Mark Samuels led East Bay with 17 points and three assists.

ABOUT LAST WEEK: The Otters gave away a pair of early Christmas presents, letting halftime leads slip away in narrow losses to Cal State L.A. (60–62) and Cal State Dominguez Hills (54–63) in their final pre–break games. Against Cal State L.A., CSUMB led by as many as 11 points in each half before the Golden Eagles rallied late for the win. Despite CSUMB shooting season lows of 37 percent from the floor and 19 percent from three–point range, Dominguez Hills needed plus–15 edges in both rebounding and free throws to pull off its come–from–behind win.

BOMBS AWAY: Although the Otters fell two–points short against Cal State  L.A., sophomore guard James Thomas (Castro Valley/Bishop O'Dowd) enjoyed a breakout game, scoring a career–high 19 points on six three–pointers with one four–point play. The six treys were one shy of the CSUMB record  of seven set five times, last by Darroll Phillips against Cal State East Bay on Dec. 4, 2010.

LENDING A HAND: Although his three game starting streak snapped against Cal State Dominguez Hills, freshman guard Jalen Headspeth (Oakland HS) has really lent a hand since making his first start on Dec. 3. He is averaging 4.5 assists per game over that span.

TENACIOUS D: Don't blame the Otter defense for the result against Cal State Dominguez Hills. The Otters forced a school opponent record 28 turnovers in that game. The previous record was 27 forced turnovers at Cal State L.A. on Feb. 23, 2008.

GOOD DEFENSE NOT ENOUGH: The Otters dropped two games to their L.A. area rivals despite holding Cal State L.A. (62) and Cal State Dominguez Hills (63) to the lowest Otter opponent scores of the season. Those are the top two marks in the last 14 games. In fact, one has to go all the way back to a 52–51 to Cal Poly Pomona loss on Jan. 23, 2010 to find the last time CSUMB gave up 63 or fewer points and lost. That's a span of 45 games.

TAKING CARE OF THE ROCK…AND NOT: The Otters enjoyed their best game of the season from a ball security standpoint Dec. 10 at Notre Dame de Namur, committing a season–low 10 turnovers. They followed that, however, by committing a season–high 24 turnovers Dec. 18 versus Cal State L.A.

DOUBLE VISION: Derrick Anderson's 15–point, 14–rebound double–double was not only his first collegiate double–double, it was the first double–double of the season for CSUMB. In fact, it was the first double–double by an Otter in 33 games. Davion Berry was the last Otter to turn the trick, scoring 24 points with 12 boards in a 78–63 win over Cal State East Bay on Feb. 19, 2010.

LOUSTALE LEADS THE WAY: Junior forward Kevin Loustale (Chico HS/Shasta College) has been a model of shooting consistency this season. Shooting at least 60 percent from the floor in seven of his first eight games, Loustale now leads the CCAA in field goal percentage at 71.2.

OTTERS AMONG THE CCAA LEADERS: Several Otters enter this week's action ranked among the CCAA leaders. CSUMB players ranked in the top 10 are:

START ME UP: By starting the Dec. 19 game against Cal State Dominguez Hills, Brandon Ward continued his steady climb up the CSUMB career starts top 10 list. Ward made his 52nd Otter start that night, moving him past Richard Jenkins for sixth place. Should Ward start all 26 regular season games in 2011–12, he would end the season with 70 career starts, No. 3 on the all–time list and just six off the record held by current assistant coach Joe Mitchell.

THE MONTEREY BAY 500: Brandon Ward's final bucket Dec. 10 at Notre Dame de Namur put him in exclusive company. It lifted the junior guard over 500 career points (501). Ward becomes just the 16th Otter to reach that plateau, passing Darryl Anderson on the all–time scoring list. Should he continue at his current pace, Ward will end the regular season as CSUMB's ninth all–time leading scorer.

THE WARD GIVETH… Brandon Ward passed for four assists versus Cal State Dominguez Hills and enters the East Bay game with 150 career assists, good for No. 6 on the CSUMB career list. Next up are Richards Jenkins with 153 and Steve Monreal with 155. DShon Cannon owns the Otter record with 371.

…AND THE WARD TAKETH AWAY: Brandon Ward added one steal to his career total versus Cal State Dominguez Hills and enters the East Bay game tied for10th on the CSUMB career list with 52 steals. Joe Mitchell hold the Otter record with 91 steals.

NOW THAT'S SMARTS: The Otter men's basketball team boasted three players who earned CCAA All–Academic honors for their classroom work in 2010–11. The Otter triumvirate of James Albert, Brenden Fripp (Santa Barbara/Palo Verde HS) and Brandon Ward made CSUMB the only school to place three men's basketball players on the list. In case you were wondering, Albert posted a 3.65 grade point average as a business administration major. Ward posted a 3.90 GPA as a business administration major.