SEASIDE, Calif. -- The Cal State Monterey Bay men's basketball team gets the opportunity to insert itself into the thick of the CCAA Tournament chase this weekend when it concludes a 4-game road trip at conference contenders Cal State Stanislaus (Friday) and Chico State (Saturday). A pair of wins could put the Otters within one game of a tournament position as the CCAA schedule nears its midway point.

As always, fans who can't make the trip may listen to the game live on www.OtterAthletics.com. Rob Ponce will call the action from courtside. Live stats will be available via www.WarriorAthletics.com. Cal State Stanislaus will provide live video for Friday's game (click link above). There will be no live video Saturday at Chico.

The Otters return to The Kelp Bed for a 2-game homestand against San Francisco State (Jan. 24) and Sonoma State (Jan. 25) before hitting thre road for yet another 4-game trip.

SCOUTING THE WARRIORS (9–3, 5–3 CCAA): Stanislaus opened the season hot, winning five consecutive out of the gate, and is hot again, having won four of five entering Friday's game. The Warriors are coming off a home weekend sweep of Cal State L.A. (66–49) and Cal State Dominguez Hills (70–54). Senior center Marcus Bell, a transfer from the University of Idaho, has scored in double figures in all 12 games, including six 20–plus point performances. He leads the team and ranks No. 5 in the CCAA at 18.6 points per game. He leads both Stanislaus and the CCAA at 9.6 rebounds per game.

WHEN LAST WE MET: In the penultimate game of the 2012–13 season for both teams, the Otters rallied from a 14–point halftime deficit to complete a season sweep of Stanislaus with a 90–88 overtime victory on Feb. 28, 2013. Kevin Loustale scored seven his 19 points in overtime while Brandon Ward led all scorers with 24 points for the Otters. Clinton Tremelling led Stanislaus with 18 points.

WHEN LAST WE PLAYED, OTTER EDITION: After a valient effort and near upset at No. 14 Cal State San Bernardino on Jan. 10, the Otters came out flat the following night and dropped a 93–70 decision at UCSD. Kris Gallop (Vallejo/Los Medanos College) scored a career–high 19 points to lead CSUMB.

WHEN LAST WE PLAYED, WARRIOR EDITION: Stanislaus completed a weekend sweep at home with a 70–54 win in Fitzpatrick Arena. The Warriors turned a 1–point game at the break into a realtively comfortable win by opening the second half on a 15–5 run to take their first double digit lead. Dominguez never got closer than two possessions for the balance of the game. Marcus Bell (14 pts., 10 reb.) and Rob Walters (10 pts., 15 reb.) posted double–doubles for Stanislaus.

THIS DATE IN OTTER HISTORY: Jay Demaestri became the fourth player in Otter history to record five 3–point field goals in a game when he sank five in a 77–75 loss to Cal State Hayward (now East Bay) on Jan. 17, 2004. Demaestri went on to turn the trick three more times, including making six in a game twice. FYI, Brandon Ward holds the MB record with eight at Sonoma State on Feb. 2, 2012.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: The Otters are concluding the first of two 4–game road trips over the next five weeks, its longest trips of the season. After returning home to host San Francisco State and Sonoma State (Jan. 24–25), they leave again for two more weeks before returning to The Kelp Bed for their final homestand of 2013–14 (Feb. 14–22). The Otters are 1–4 in three road appearances so far this season.

NIFTY FIFTY: Head Coach Rob Bishop (@Coach_RBishop) enters the week needing one win for his 50th career victory.

GALLOP ON THE BLOCKS: With his block Saturday night a UC San Diego, Kris Gallop took over sole possession of fourth place on the CSUMB career blocked shots list with 37. He needs three more to catch Darryl Anderson and Billy Curry for second place (40). Jay Demaestri holds the Otter record with 46 blocks from 2003–06. Gallop ranks No. 7 in the CCAA this season at 1.0 bpg.

GALLOP ON THE REBOUND: After totalling 19 rebounds in two games last weekend, Kris Gallop has moved into the No. 4 spot on the CCAA rebounding list at 7.0 rpg. 

FERTIG FLYING HIGH… Not only was the 30–point night by Alex Fertig Jan. 10 at San Bernardino a career–high, it marked the first 30–point game by an Otter since Brandon Ward scored 31 at Sonoma State on Feb. 2, 2012.

…WITH AN ASTERISK: Though it didn't count on the official stats, the San Bernardino game was actually Fertig's second 30–point game of the season. He dropped 31 points on San Jose State in the Otters' 78–69 exhibition win over the Spartans on Nov. 4.

No. 16 WITH A BULLET: Alex Fertig continues to shoot up the CSUMB career scoring chart. His 30 points Jan. 10 raised his career total to 548, vaulting him from 18th to 16th place past Will Brown (537) and Dante Green (538). Next up is No. 15 Mike Miller (615).

SECOND TO 500: With 15 points in the Jan. 3 win over Humboldt, Alex Fertig became the second–fastest player to 500 points in CSUMB history (his 37th appearance). Davion Berry got their the fastest, using a 25–point effort at San Francisco State on Jan. 4, 2011 to reach 500 career points (503) in his 36th Otter appearance.

DOUBLE THE FUN: After going eight weeks without a double–double, the Otters have posted two in the last two weeks. Kris Gallop got his first of the season (10 and 11) at San Bernardino (Jan. 10). That came exactly seven days after Greg Anderson (Murietta/Palomar College) earned his first with an 18–point, 11–rebound effort in a win over Humboldt State on Jan. 3.

PERFECTION, THY NAME IS ZELLER: Evan Zeller (Mission Viejo HS) went a perfect 5–for–5 from 3–point range Jan. 10 at San Bernardino, becoming just the third Otter ever to accomplish the feat. The others were Augie Johnston (7–for–7 vs. Chico State, Feb. 23, 2007) and Rocky Steryo (6–for–6 vs. Bethany College, Feb. 9, 2002)

TAKE THEM, THEY'RE FREE: We're nearly halfway into the season, and the Otters are shooting free throws at an historically dismal pace. After missing a school–record 19 free throws last Saturday at UC San Diego, CSUMB enters tonight's converting just 59.1 percent (185–313) from the stripe. The record low for Otter free–throw shooting came when the 2003–04 attempted a school–record 688 free throws but made only 426, a rate of 61.9 percent.