Men's Basketball | November 30, 2015
SEASIDE, Calif. — With momentum now on its side, the Cal State Monterey Bay men's basketball team will conclude its brief homestand by hosting Pac West Conference rival Notre Dame de Namur Tuesday night in The Kelp Bed for a 7 p.m. tip. It will be the first of two games on the week for the Otters, who travel to La Jolla to open CCAA play against highly–regarded UC San Diego Friday night.
Rob Ponce will call the action for both games live from courtside in KION 101.1 FM. Aled Hudson will handle the color duties Tuesday night only.
ARGONAUT 3–DOT NOTES (0–5 overall): The Argonauts have struggled out of the gate in 2015–16, dropping their first five by an average margin of nearly 28 points per game…forced overtime vs. Stanislaus State before falling 59–53…just got Sr./G Jalani Davis back last weekend and he's already leading the team in scoring (10.0 ppg) and rebounding (6.0 rpg)…Jr./C Korey Serna adds 10.0 ppg and 5.0 rpg.
HOME SWEET HOME OPENERS: With Sunday's 93–67 win over Simon Fraser, the Otters have now won four consecutive home openers dating back to the 2012–13 season. They have won six of their eight home openers under
Rob Bishop.
ARGO ROAD WOES: With losses in their first two road games of the season, NDNU has now lost 10 consecutive games away from Gleason Gym dating back to December of 2013. They are 1–32 on the road dating back to January 7, 2013.
WHEN LAST WE MET: The Otters won an entertaining but hard–fought affair last season in Gleason Gym, 74–70. Then sophomores
Evan Zeller and
Isaiah Smith led MB with 16 and 15 points respectively. NDNU shook off a 10–point deficit at the half with a 12–0 run to take a 50–48 lead. The teams traded the lead several times down the stretch before the Otters scored the game's final five points over the last 78 seconds of regulation to secure the win.
WHEN LAST WE PLAYED: Despite playing without (then) leading scorer
Evan Zeller (who was nursing a minor injury), the Otters shifted into high gear to blow out visiting Simon Fraser University 93–67 Sunday night in their home opener.
Ryan Nitz (29 points),
Alex Fertig (15) and
Chris Porter (13) led the offense.
Gregg Polosky (3 steals, 1 block) led the defense.
THIS DATE IN OTTER HISTORY: To find the last time the Otters won on the first of December, one has to go back to 2006 when Richard Jenkins scored 18 points and passed four assists in a 75–74 win over Cal State L.A..
ON THE BLOCKS: The Otters are blocking shots at a near record pace. They are in line for 104 blocks in the regular season alone. The school record is 109 blocks set in 2005–06.
LARGE MARGINS: Sunday 26–point win (93–67) over Simon Fraser equals the largest margin of victory in the
Rob Bishop era (see chart below).
WE LOVE THE 80s: The 80s have usually been incredibly friendly territory for the Otters under
Rob Bishop. The 90–83 loss to Saint Martin's snapped a 5–game win streak when the Otters scored 80+ in regulation. MB is 23–4 all–time under Bishop when scoring at least 80 in regulation.
Not to worry, though. Things returned to their natural order with Sunday's 93–67 win over Simon Fraser
ELEVEN HUNDRED: With 22 points at the Western Oregon tournament,
Alex Fertig moved past the 1,100 point plateau (1,101). Adding 15 vs. Simon Fraser, he is now just 115 away from Brandon Ward's Otter career record (1,231) set from 2010–13.
FERTIG GIVITH…: Alex Fertig continues to solidify his hold on the No. 5 spot on the CSUMB career assist list. He has 12 this season, bringing his career total to 172. Next up is Joe Mitchell in the No. 4 spot. Mitchell posted 180 assists from 2006–09.
…AND FERTIG TAKETH AWAY: Alex Fertig passed D'Shon Cannon for No. 4 on the Otter career steals (86) list with another theft Sunday vs. Simon Fraser. Joe Mitchell owns the CSUMB record with 91 career steals.
BOMBS AWAY: Evan Zeller went a sizzling 7-for-12 (.583) from beyond the arc last weekend as he continues to close in on CSUMB's all–time record for 3–pointers. Zeller enters Sunday's game with 107 treys. Augie Johnston owns the MB career record with 137 (2005–08).
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 against NCAA Division II opponents 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 beat a Division II foe was a 54–53 decision over Cal Poly Pomona in The Kelp Bed on Jan. 29, 2005.
The last time the Otters scored fewer than 60 points and beat any foe was their 50–47 win over Cal Poly on Nov. 18, 2010.
GO OTTERS!
