Men's Basketball | November 26, 2014

SEASIDE, Calif. — The Cal State Monterey Bay men's basketball team try to improve to 4–1 for just the fourth time in school history when they host Great Northwest Conference hopeful Western Oregon University Friday (Nov. 28) for a 6 p.m. tipoff.



Fans who can't make the game may follow live stats and video  at www.OtterAthletics.com. Fans in the Monterey Bay area may listen to the broadcast on KION 1460 AM with Rob Ponce calling the play–by–play and former Otter assistant coach Alex Hudson handling the color duties.
 

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WOLF 3–DOT NOTES (3–2): Like the Otters, the Wolves have been fed a steady diet of Pac West Conference opposition to open the season…they are 2–2 vs. the PWC after Tuesday's 67–52 win at Dixie State…their other game was a 62–54 win over Colorado Christian…Andy Avgi tops the scoring chart for WOU at 16.4 ppg…he has scored in double figures in all five games, including 21 in the win at Dixie…Devon Alexander adds 9.2 ppg…Lewis Thomas top the rebounding chart at 8.0 rpg.

WHEN LAST WE MET: The first and only meeting in this series to date was a barn–burner played at Debini Classic in Arcata. Richard Jenkins scored a school–record 57 points and pulled down a school–record 20 rebounds to lead the Otters to a 126–122 4–overtime win. D'Shon Cannon also passed for nine assists. Ryan Schmidt led WOU with 39 points.

THIS DATE IN OTTER HISTORY: The Otters scored a big upset in a 68–65 win over Seattle Pacific in The Kelp Bed on Nov. 28, 2008, Rob Bishop's first year as CSUMB head coach. Dante Green came off the bench to score a game–high 19 points, leading three Otters in double figures.

CRASHING THE SCOREBOARD: CSUMB and WOU shorted out the scoreboard in Lumberjack Arena was these teams last played. The Otters set a school record for points again an NCAA opponent (126) while the Wolves scored their most points since 1992 (122). Neither team has scored more since that game.

STARTING OFF ON THE RIGHT FOOT: The Otters are now 3–1 for just the fourth time in school history and for the second time in seven seasons under Head Coach Rob Bishop (@Coach_RBishop). Should the Otters beat WOU, Bishop would become the first coach in CSUMB history to start 4–1 in two seasons.

TAKING CARE OF THE ROCK: The Otters have taken excellent care of the rock so far this season, posting 59 assists against just 57 turnover through the first three games. Individually, five Otters boast positive assist–to–turnover ratios, led by Alex Fertig (3.0) and Patrick Lefiti (1.5).

LENDING A HAND: Patrick Lefiti's seven assists against Cal Baptist were the most by an Otter since Brandon Cole dished eight in a win over Cal State East Bay on Dec. 30, 2012.

LARGE MARGINS: Nov. 14th's 80–67 win over Holy Names marked the fourth largest margin of victory (13 points) in a road game under Head Coach Rob Bishop (2008–present).

THE BIG GUY COMES UP BIG: A big part of the 74–70 win at Notre Dame de Namur was the play of sophomore big man Isaiah Smith, who scored a career–high 15 points in the win. In fact, he has already matched his previous high of 12 points by halftime in that game.

20–20 VISION: For the first time in CSUMB history, two different Otters have scored 20 or more points in the first two games of a season after Alex Fertig scored 22 against Holy Names and Greg Anderson scored 22 against Cal Baptist. As solo acts, DeVaughn Lamont did it to open the 2005–06 season and Steve Monreal did it to begin 2008–09.

No. 10 WITH A BULLET: With 57 points through his first three games, Alex Fertig has brought his career scoring total to 794 points. He still holds on to the No. 10 spot on the Otter career scoring list and needs 54 more to catch Augie Johnston (2005–08) for ninth place at 848. If he maintains his current career scoring average, by late January he should become the fifth Otter to record 1,000 career points.

HE GIVITH AND HE TAKETH AWAY: In addition to his rise up the scoring chart, Alex Fertig moved up a notch on the CSUMB career steals chart as well over the first three games. With his sixth steal of the season at Notre Dame de Namur, he now sits alone in ninth on the Otter career list with 63. He needs four more steals to catch Davion Berry and Chris Hardy for seventh place. Joe Mitchell holds the Otter career record with 91 steals (2006–09).