SEASIDE, Calif. -- After a pair of titanic tilts with Sonoma State last season, the Cal State Monterey Bay men's basketball team will lift the lid on its 2012-13
California Collegiate Athletic Assocaition schedule by traveling to meet those very same Seawolves Friday (Nov. 30) in Rohnert Park. a late
James Thomas (Castro Valley/Bishop O'Dowd HS) forced overtime in last season's 80-72 overtime win in The Kelp Bed. But Sonoma State overcame a career-high 31-point night from
Brandon Ward (Riverside/Woodcrest HS) to sqeak out an 80-77 win in The Wolves' Den.
Tip-off will be for Friday's game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. as the nightcap of men's/women's doubleheader action. Fans can listen live on
KRXA 540 AM or online at
OtterAthletics.com.
CLICK HERE for live stats and video from
SonomaSeawolves.com.
SCOUTING THE SEAWOLVES: The Seawolves have played just two games heading into the weekend, splitting a pair at their own season–opening tournament. They fell to Minnesota State 75–68 on Nov. 16 and bounced back with a 91–87 overtime victory against Dominican (Calif.) The following day. Senior wing Patrick Scott leads a quartet of Seawolves in double figures at 21.0 points per game. Scott, Justin Herold and Ryan Stanley top the rebounding chart at 5.0 rpg.
WHEN LAST WE MET: Then juniors
Brandon Ward and
Kevin Loustale (Chico/Shasta College) had monster games for the Otters in a tough 80–77 loss at Sonoma State on Feb. 2. Ward drained a school–record eight three–pointers as part of a career–high 31 point performance. Loustale, meanwhile, pulled down 17 rebounds, the No. 6 mark on the Otter single game list. Sterling Arterberry led three Seawolves in double figures with 19 points.
ABOUT LAST WEEK: Thanksgiving break brought with it a light week and just a single game against visiting Dominican (Calif.) Saturday evening. The Otters led for the final 28 minutes of regulation but couldn't put the pesky Penguins away until the final minutes of a 73–68 win on Nov. 24. Senior
Derrick Anderson (Pittsburgh HS) and freshman
Alex Fertig (Fresno/Buchanan HS) led a balanced Otter effort with 14 points apiece. Senior center
James Albert (San Bernardino/Aquinas HS) came off the bench to grab a career–best nine rebounds.
FOR CCAA OPENERS: Friday's game at Sonoma State will mark the ninth CCAA opener in CSUMB men's basketball history. The Otters are 4–4 in CCAA openers, including a 2–2 mark in the Bishop era. This will mark the first time in five seasons under Bishop CSUMB will open CCAA play on the road.
FOUR AND TWO ARE GOOD FOR YOU: With a win Friday at Sonoma State, the Otters would start the season 4–2 overall for the fifth time in school history and the third time under fifth–year Head Coach
Rob Bishop. CSUMB's best–ever start came in Bishop's inaugural season of 2008–09 when the Otters began 7–0 and 9–1 en route to a berth in the CCAA Tournament Championship game.
FERTIG NAMED TO ALL–TOURNAMENT TEAM: Freshman guard
Alex Fertig (Fresno/Buchanan HS) picked up the first piece of hardware for the Otters this season, earning All–Tournament recognition at the GCI Alaska Invitational. He averaged 18.7 points per game over the weekend, including CSUMB's first 20–point games of the season with 24 vs. Colorado Christian and 21 vs. Oklahoma Panhandle State.
THE CHILIAD CLUB: Senior guard
Brandon Ward began the season knocking on the door of CSUMB's exclusive Chiliad Club. His 19 points Nov. 11 versus Pacifica vaulted him from ninth to seventh place with 859 career points. He needs 93 to become the fourth player in Otter history to score 1,000 career points.
Matt Dalhamer owns the CSUMB career record with 1,075 points from 1999–2001.
THE CENTURY CLUB: Nov. 11th's 104–point performance marked the highest–scoring game of the
Rob Bishop era, eclipsing the 99 points scored in a 99–88 win at Cal State Stanislaus on Jan. 30, 2009. The 104 points are the ninth entry in the CSUMB Century Club and rank No. 5 for points scored in a regulation game.
LARGE MARGINS, HOME EDITION: The season–opening 104–52 win over Pacifica University set a CSUMB record for largest margin of victory (52 points) in an Otter home win. Last night, CSUMB's 78–58 win over Colorado Christian was the largest margin of victory in a road game during the Road Bishop era at CSUMB. The previous record was 19 points in an 83–64 win at Cal State East Bay on Feb. 3, 2011.
LARGE MARGINS, ROAD EDITION: Nov. 16th's 78–58 win over Colorado Christian was the largest margin of victory (20 points) in a road game in the
Rob Bishop era of Otter basketball.
START ME UP: Brandon Ward is inching closer to another record, needing just two starts to catch CSUMB record holder
Joe Mitchell with 76 career starts. With his Nov. 17 start against Oklahoma Panhandle, he passed
D'Shon Cannon (73) for second place on the list. Senior forward
Derrick Anderson is also well within reach of the record, entering the week tied for No. 4 on the list with 68 starts.
THE WARD GIVETH… Brandon Ward's two assists last weekend versus Dominican give him 202 career assists, good for No. 2 in the CSUMB record book.
D'Shon Cannon owns the top spot with 371 assists from 2006–08.
…AND THE WARD TAKETH AWAY: Brandon Ward continues his quest for the CSUMB career steals record, entering the Sonoma State game in the No. 5 spot with 71 steals. Next up in fourth place is
Steve Monreal with 79 steals.
Joe Mitchell holds the record with 91 steals.
WORKING OVERTIME: One area where the Otters have excelled in the
Rob Bishop Era is in overtime. CSUMB was 2–0 in overtime during the 2011–12 season and 6–1 overall when playing bonus basketball under Bishop.
NOW THAT'S SMARTS: After leading the conference with three members of the CCAA All–Academic team in 2011, the Otter men's basketball team built on that success by placing four players on that team in 2012:
James Albert,
Geoff McIntosh,
Brandon Ward and
Troy Watkins. CSUMB's seven CCAA All–Academic team members over the last two seasons are tops among the 12 conference schools. Ward, in fact, is a three–year member of the CCAA All–Academic team.
TAKE THEM, THEY'RE FREE: The Otters finished the 2011–12 campaign with an aggregate 71.3 percentage effort from the free–throw line. That mark ranked No. 5 in CSUMB record book and marked the sixth consecutive season the Otters shot at least 71 percent from the charity stripe.
WELCOME BACK: The Otters return all five starters from the 2011–12 roster. Altogether, CSUMB welcomes back 80.1 percent of its scoring and 71.6 percent of its rebounding from last season.
SIT THIS ONE OUT: Freshman
Tim Darkwa and junior
Rafael Morelos will practice with the team but are expected to redshirt the 2012–13 season.
