Men's Basketball | December 01, 2014

SEASIDE, Calif. — The Cal State Monterey Bay men's basketball team will look to get healthy in more ways than one when it kicks off the conference portion of its 2014–15 schedule by hosting UC San Diego (Friday) and defending CCAA Champions Cal Poly Pomona (Saturday) in The Kelp Bed. Tipoff both nights is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. as the nightcap of men's/women's doubleheader action.

The Otters have been a little nicked up in preconference action but expect to have their full complement of players available this weekend. They're back just in time, too, as the Otters player four CCAA contests over the next three weeks before taking time off for the traditional Christmas break. In addition to this weekend's games, the Otters play a home–and–home series with Cal State East Bay Dec. 13 and Dec. 20.

Fans who can't make it to The Kelp Bed can watch locally in HD on Campus Televideo Ch. 73.1 and listen live on KION 1460 AM/101.5 FM. The games will also be streamed live on OtterAthletics.com and on the KION iHeartRadio stream. As usual, Rob Ponce will handle the play–by–play duties and former Otter assistant coach Alex Hudson will provide the color.
 

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TRITON 3–DOT NOTES (3–1, 1–0): UCSD got its CCAA schedule off on the right foot with a huge 69–66 upset win at Cal Poly Pomona on Nov. 22…the Tritons hit 13 3–pointers in the win while the Broncos went just 10–of–22 from the FT line…they're returning from a trip to Denver where they fell at Colorado School of Mines (43–54) and beat Ft. Lewis College (83–71) Thanksgiving weekend…Jr. G Drew Dyer and Jr. F Hunter Walker top the Triton scoring table at 14.0 and 11.3 ppg respectively…UCSD is out–rebounding its opponents by 1.7 rpg even though no player averages more than 4.3 rpg.

WHEN LAST WE MET: The Otters took an 8–point lead into the break and never let the Tritons gain the upper hand over the final 20 minutes in a 70–57 win in The Kelp Bed on Feb. 14, 2014. Devin Murphy came off the bench to lead four Otters in double figures with 18 points. James McCann single–handedly kept UCSD in the game with 21 points and nine rebounds.

WHEN LAST WE PLAYED: Despite playing with a patchwork backcourt, the Otters rallied from 16 points down in the second half to take the lead against Western Oregon before free–throw shooting (hot for WOU, not for CSUMB) turned the tide in the final minutes of an 84–73 loss Nov. 28 in The Kelp Bed.

THIS DATE IN OTTER HISTORY: Playing at the NAIA level, the then fledgling Otter program defeated Dominican College (now University) 71–64 to improve to 7–2 on the season on Dec. 5, 1998. CSUMB would go on to win 26 games in 1998–99, still the program record.

ZELLER PUTS THE Z IN SIZZLE: Sophomore guard Evan Zeller took his sizzling start to a new level last week, posting career highs of 25 points and five assists against Western Oregon. Zeller has now scored in double figures in all five games to start the season. He enters the week ranked No. 2 in the CCAA in scoring at 18.2 ppg. He also ranks No. 5 in the CCAA in 3–pt. field goal percentage at 42.9 (min. 2.0 pg).

TAKING CARE OF THE ROCK: The Otters have taken excellent care of the rock so far this season, posting 74 assists against 73 turnover through the first five games. Individually, several Otters boast positive assist–to–turnover ratios, led by Alex Fertig (3.3), Evan Zeller (1.7) 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.

ON THE REBOUND: Senior forward Greg Anderson has been a consistent presence on the boards this season. He enters this week's action leading the Otters and ranked No. 4 in the CCAA at 7.6 rpg.

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.

OTTERS AMONG THE CCAA LEADERS: In addition to Evan Zeller, Greg Anderson cracks the CCAA scoring Top 10 this week, checking in at No. 7 with 13.8 ppg. With an injury limited four points versus Western Oregon, Alex Fertig dropped to No. 14 (12.2 ppg). Other Otters appearing in the CCAA's Top 10 lists this week include: Assists (Patrick Lefiti No. 8 3.8 apg; Zeller No. 10 3.4 apg); Assist–Turnover Ratio (Fertig No. 4 3.3); FG% (Anderson No. 10 55.6); FT% (Zeller No. 5 88.9); Rebounding (Anderson No. 3 7.6 rpg).

No. 10 WITH A BULLET: Alex Fertig saw his climb up the CSUMB scoring chart slowed by an injury that limited him to four points vs. Western Oregon last week. He enters this week's action with 798 points. He still holds on to the No. 10 spot on the Otter career scoring list and needs 50 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 seventh steal of the season versus Western Oregon, he now sits alone in ninth on the Otter career list with 64. He needs five more steals to catch Davion Berry and Chris Hardy for seventh place. Joe Mitchell holds the Otter career record with 91 steals (2006–09).