Men's Basketball | November 10, 2015
SEASIDE, Calif. — After last week's stirring win over Mountain West Conference contender Utah State, the Cal State Monterey Bay men's basketball team will begin its regular season schedule this weekend at the Pac West/CCAA Shootout Friday and Saturday in Dominican University's Conlan Center. The Otters will face Academy of Art Friday (Nov. 13) before wrapping up tournament play against host Dominican Saturday (Nov. 14).
Tipoff will be 5:30 p.m. Friday and 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Rob Ponce will call the action live from courtside KION 101.1 FM.
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URBAN KNIGHTS 3–DOT NOTES (0–0 overall): The Urban Knights have made steady progress under Julius Barnes, who begins his fourth season at the helm with Friday's game…ArtU will be rebuilding a bit after losing its top two scorers and rebounders in Yanick Kulich (16.3 ppg/6.0 rpg) and Alexis Moore (15.9 ppg/6.7 rpg)…Sr./G Herman Pratt is the top returning scorer (9.5 ppg)…So./F Jase Harrison is the top returning boardman (3.5 rpg).
WHEN LAST WE MET: The Otters and Urban Knights last met on opening night, 2013 when CSUMB claimed an exciting 91–87 overtime win in Kezar Pavilion. In his first game as an Otter,
Ryan Nitz led MB with 21 points.
Alex Fertig (16 points) and then freshman
Evan Zeller (13) joined Nitz in double figures. Alex Cameron led ArtU with 36 points.
WHEN LAST WE PLAYED: One night after receiving a humbling lesson at No. 16 Utah, the Otters put what they learned to good use in a no–doubt–about–it win at Mountain West Conference contender Utah State. CSUMB led for 39 of the game's 40 minutes. In fact they led by at least two possessions for the final 36:03. They led by as many as 15 points in the first half and as many as 17 points in the second
Ryan Nitz led four Otters in double figures with 17 points.
THIS DATE IN OTTER HISTORY: No current Otter has played a collegiate game on Nov. 13. The last time any Otter did came on Nov. 13, 2011 when CSUMB fell at (then) Big West Conference foe University of the Pacific, 75–63. Kevin Loustale led the Otters with 13 points and nine rebounds.
FOR OPENERS: The Otters have enjoyed recent success on opening night, winning 6 of their last 7 openers, including an 80–67 win over Holy Names University last season. Overall, CSUMB is slightly ahead of the game at 9–8 on opening night dating back to 1998–99.
OTHER OPENING METRICS: The Otters are 5–6 when opening on the road to start the season. They are 6–11 all–time when playing their first road game of the season.
ALEX 1K: In what was all but a fait accompli, junior guard
Alex Fertig finally became the fourth Otter ever to reach 1,000 career points when he scored 16 points Feb. 21 at Cal State L.A. He enters the season with 1,056 points. He needs 176 points to break the school record. Brandon Ward set the career record of 1,231 points from 2010–13.
QUINTUPLE DOUBLE FIGURES: The Otters placed five scorers in double figures both in the season's penultimate week, the third and fourth time they did that during the 2014–15 season. It also marked the first time in Otter history that five players reached double figures in consecutive games. Prior to last season, last time five Otters turned that trick in a single game came in an 89–83 win over Cal State East Bay on Dec. 20, 2013.
60 SHALL BE THE NUMBER, NO LESS: With apologies to Monty Python, the number for the Otters shall be 60, not three. Following CSUMB's 66–59 loss at Cal Poly Pomona last season, the Otters are now 0–44 when scoring fewer than 60 points dating back to the 2004–05 season, their first at the NCAA Division II level. The last time the Otters scored fewer than 60 points and won was a 54–53 decision over Cal Poly Pomona in The Kelp Bed on Jan. 29, 2005.
FERTIG GIVITH…: Alex Fertig enters his senior season in sole possession of the No. 5 spot on the CSUMB career assist list with 160. Next up is Joe Mitchell in the No. 4 spot. Mitchell posted 180 assists from 2006–09.
…AND FERTIG TAKETH AWAY: Alex Fertig enters his final collegiate season with 81 steals, good for No. 5 on the Otter list. He needs four more to catch D'Shon Cannon (85) for No. 4. Joe Mitchell owns the CSUMB record with 91 career steals.
GO OTTERS!
