Alex Fertig, the top freshman and No. 6 overall scorer in the CCAA, will go head-to-head with CSULA’s Joshua Munzon, the CCAA’s No. 2 freshman scorer (No. 24 overall) Friday.
CSUMB looking for wins to stay in thick of CCAA Tournament chase
SEASIDE, Calif. -- The Cal State Monterey Bay men's basketball team is still very much in the thick of the CCAA Tournament chase, but it must defend the home court this weekend to keep alive realistic home of playing into March this season.
The Otters are just two games out of eighth place--and the CCAA Tournament bid that comes with a top eight finish--and wins this weekend would bring two more team within reach as the conference race nears its denoument.
The weekend kicks off Friday with Cal State L.A. (Feb. 8) and concludes Saturday against Cal State Dominguez Hills (Feb. 9).
Tipofff both nights will be at 7:30 p.m. as the nightcap of men's/women's doubleheader action. Otters fans can listen and watch online at www.OtterAthletics.com. Rob Ponce and former Otter Ian Hosford will call all of the action live from courtside.
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES (10–8, 7–7 CCAA): Cal State L.A. used its Jan. 5 win over CSUMB to cobble together a 5–1 streak and earn a top four spot in the CCAA standings. But the Golden Eagles have dropped their last three—albeit to Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State and Bernardino and red–hot UC San Diego—and need success on this road trip put themselves back in position to host a CCAA Tournament game. Junior forward James Tillman leads the Golden Eagle attack at 15.8 points per game. Jordan Richard adds 8.8 rebounds per game and leads the nation with 81 blocked shots.
WHEN LAST WE MET: Cal State L.A. was (and continues to be) the worst three–point shooting team in the CCAA, but the Golden Eagles made five of their first 10 from beyond the arc to race to an early 15–point lead en route to a 75–62 win in The Eagles' Nest on Jan. 5. Freshman guard Alex Fertig (Fresno/Buchanan HS) led CSUMB with 21 points, his fifth 20–point game of the season at the time. Joshua Munzon scored 20 for CSULA while Jordan Richard chipped in six blocked shots.
WHEN LAST WE PLAYED: The Otters played reasonably well, especially on the offensive end, but Sonoma State's Will Olsem went for 40 points for the second consecutive game (he dropped 40 on East Bay the previous night) and the Seawolves held off a late Otter charge to win 90–81 in The Kelp Bed on Feb. 2. CSUMB got a career–high 22 points from Kevin Loustale (Chico/Shasta College) and 19 more from Brandon Ward (Riverside/Woodcrest HS).
WARD PUTTING DISTANCE BETWEEN HIMSELF AND PURSUERS ON CSUMB SCORING LIST: With CSUMB's career scoring record now secure, Brandon Ward will spend the balance of his senior season putting space between himself and any would–be pursuers in the CSUMB record book. He broke the previous record held by Matt Dalhamer of 1,075 in the Jan. 26 win at Cal State Stanislaus. With 19 points last Saturday vs. Sonoma State, Ward eclipsed the 1,100 point barrier. Ward will have eight regular season games (plus any potential postseason appearances) to put distance between himself and any future challengers.
LIQUID NITROGEN COLD: How cold were the Otter shooters Jan. 17 vs. UCSD? Try as cold as liquid nitrogen (that's 322 degrees below zero for the non–physicists out there). CSUMB went 0–for–14 from beyond the three–point arc, the second worst performance in school history. It was the first time since the second game of the Rob Bishop era that the Otters failed to make a three–pointer. Stretching over three games, the Otters missed a school–record 22–consecutive three–pointers between Jan. 12–19 before an Alex Fertig trey broke the spell with 16:07 remaining against San Bernardino. CSUMB finished the game by making five of its last nine from long range.
…BUT WARMING UP: The Otters have begun to awaken from their recent shooting slumber. Including an 8–of–17 (47.1 pct.) performance in in the Jan. 26 win at Stanislaus, CSUMB has made 23 of its last 53 attempts from beyond the arc (43.4 pct.).
SUPERNOVA HOT: How hot has Kevin Loustale been lately? Try has hot as a supernova (around 3.7 billion degrees Kelvin or 4.8 billion Fahrenheit for the non–physicists out there). Loustale enters the week 34–of–57 (59.6 percent) from the field over his last eight games, bringing his season total to 57.6 percent (good for No. 4 in the CCAA).
POPPING THE DOUBLE–DOUBLE BUBBLE: Senior forward Kevin Loustale became the first Otter men's player to record a double–double this season when he went for 10 points and 10 rebounds Jan. 19 versus San Bernardino. It was the first double–double for an Otter since Loustale (14 & 11) and Derrick Anderson (Pittsburg HS) (12 & 10) each turned the trick against UCSD on Feb. 17, 2012. For good measure, Loustale added his second double–double (11 & 15) Saturday at Stanislaus.
ON THE BLOCKS: Junior forward Kris Gallop (Vallejo/Los Medanos College) posted a team season–high four blocks Jan. 5 at Cal State L.A. That mark is tied for the No. 4 spot in the CSUMB record book and were the most blocks since Andrew Castro blocked five shots in a win at Cal Poly SLO on Nov. 18, 2010. He added his 19th and 20th blocks Saturday versus Sonoma State to pass Marcel Davis (1999) for No. 6 on the CSUMB single–season list.
FERTIG AMONG CCAA SCORING LEADERS: Freshman guard Alex Fertig enters the week ranked No. 6 among the CCAA scoring leaders at 14.7 points per game He is the only freshman ranked in the top 20 (Cal State L.A. freshman guard Joshua Munzon in No. 24 at 10.5 ppg).
ON THE REBOUND: After taking a 32–29 edge on the glass last Saturday versus Sonoma State, the Otters have out–rebounded their opponents in 13 of 21 games this season. Built on that effort, CSUMB is now No. 2 in the CCAA in total rebounding, average 37.7 rpg. Cal State L.A. leads at 42.1 rpg.
SO CLOSE… The Otters just missed scoring their most points in a regulation conference game during the Rob Bishop era by hanging 98 points on Cal State East Bay Dec. 30. The high water mark is 99 points in a 99–88 win at Cal State Stanislaus on Jan. 30, 2009. The 98 points were the third most scored in a regulation CCAA game in Otter history, trailing only the aforementioned game at Stanislaus and 107 points (also at Stanislaus) on Jan. 19, 2007.
DOUBLE TROUBLE: By scoring 180 points versus Academy of Art (82) and Cal State East Bay (98), the Otters set a school record for points in consecutive regulation wins over NCAA Division II competition. The 2006–07 Otters scored 188 points in consecutive games versus Chico State (99) and Cal State Stanislaus (89), but fell in the Stanislaus game, 96–89.
THE WARD GIVETH… Brandon Ward's five assists Saturday versus Sonoma State give him 235 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 Cal State L.A. game tied with Steve Monreal at 81 steals for the No. 4 spot. 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 (including a 72–66 win over San Bernardino) and 6–1 overall when playing bonus basketball under Bishop.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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CSUMB SAAC SPONSORS CANNED FOOD DRIVE
The CSUMB Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) is conducting its annual canned food drive this week in conjunction with a conference wide drive by the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA).
"The annual canned food is another great way for SAAC to help out those in need while competing with other schools in the conference.” said men's golf and SAAC Co-President Dylan Jackson. “Our number of cans donated has increased each year and we hope to continue that this year."
CSUMB's SAAC will be collecting the canned foods from Feb. 4-11 at Otter athletic events and select locations on campus.
Fans who donate canned food items at the events will receive raffle tickets for each item donated for a chance to win Otter gear and other prizes. Winners will be selected throughout the games.
Receptacles to collect the cans will be at all CSUMB athletic events during the drive and are also in the CSUMB Athletics' main office and the gym.
CSUMB will be donating the collected food items to the Food Bank of Monterey County.
