Men's Basketball | February 16, 2016

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SEASIDE, Calif. — With a CCAA Tournament berth safely secured, the Cal State Monterey Bay men's basketball team will continue its quest for a Top 4 finish and the home tournament game it would earn as a result. The Otters most likely will need to win their three remaining games (and get a little help) in order to achieve that goal.

The first steps in that quest btake place this weekend when CSUMB hosts Cal State L.A. Friday (Feb. 19) and Cal State Dominguez Hills Saturday (Feb. 20). Both teams are fighting for playoff spots behind the Otters. The Otters will close their season at Cal State East Bay on Saturday, Feb. 27.

Saturday's game versus Dominguez Hills will be Senior Night. The Otters will recognize the program's six seniors in pregame ceremonies, so be sure to arrive early.

Tipoff for both games this weekend will be at 7:30 p.m. as the nightcaps of men's/women's doubleheader action. Rob Ponce will call both games with Alex Hudson providing the color live on KION 101.5 FM and the KION feed on iHeartRadio. Kevin Richardson will handle the play-by-play duties on Ch. 73 and the OtterAthletics.com telecast. As always, free live stats will be available on OtterAthletics.com both nights.

 

FRIDAY vs. CAL STATE L.A.	SATURDAY vs. CAL STATE DOMINGUEZ HILLS
Date: Friday, February 19 (7:30 p.m.)	Date: Saturday, February 20 (7:30 p.m.)
Location: Seaside, Calif.	Location: Seaside, Calif.
Arena: The Kelp Bed (1,000)	Arena: The Kelp Bed (1,000)
TV: Campus Televideo Ch. 73 (On Air: Kevin Richardson)	TV: Campus Televideo Ch. 73 (On Air: Kevin Richardson)
Radio: KION 101.1 FM (On Air: Rob Ponce, Alex Hudson)	Radio: KION 101.1 FM (On Air: Rob Ponce, Alex Hudson)
Live Video Stream: OtterAthletics.com	Live Video Stream: OtterAthletics.com
Live Stats: OtterAthletics.com	Live Stats: OtterAthletics.com

GOLDEN EAGLE 3–DOT NOTES (7–16, 6–10 CCAA): After a rocky start, the Golden Eagles enter the week riding a 4–game win streak that has them back in the CCAA Tournament hunt…they currently hold the No. 8 seed and are two games clear of San Bernardino with four games remaining…senior guards Joshua Munzon and Duce Zaid lead the team at 13.6 and 13.3 points per game (both more than double any other Golden Eagle)…Jr./C Geoffrey Frid leads a balanced rebounding chart at 4.7 rpg.

WHEN LAST WE MET: The Otters completed a sweep of the Dominguez Hills/L.A. trip with a 71–66 win over the Golden Eagles in The Eagles Nest on Feb. 14, 2015. CSUMB overcame a 13–point deficit in the first half. They never led by more than nine points but never let L.A. hold the ball within a possession of the lead over the final 11:16 of regulation. Alex Fertig scored 16 points and Evan Zeller scored 15 to lead MB. Joel Brokenbrough led L.A. with 13.

WHEN LAST WE PLAYED: The rallied from 12 points down to take the lead midway through the second half, but missed their final 11 field goal attempts to allow Humboldt State to slip away with an 87–76 win Saturday night in Lumberjack Arena. Ryan Nitz led all scorers with 24 points.

THIS DATE IN OTTER HISTORY: The Otters won their first ever Feb. 19th game by defeating UC Santa Cruz 71–65 on Feb. 19, 1998.

YOU MAKE ME FEEL LIKE DANCING: For the third time in the program's NCAA history (and the second time under Rob Bishop) the Otters will be playing in the postseason when they take part in the CCAA Championship Tournament beginning March 1 at a site TBA. The Otters last advanced to the postseason in 2009, when they reached the CCAA Championship game before falling to host Cal State San Bernardino 80–78 on Mar. 7, 2009.

ANOTHER 1(4) BITES THE DUST: For the second time this season, the Otters knocked off a team ranked No. 14 or higher in the NABC NCAA Division II rankings when they beat Cal Poly Pomona 67–65 last weekend. MB defeated No. 13 UCSD 71–60 on Jan. 16.

DOUBLE RANKED WINS: With two wins over nationally–ranked opponents (see note above), the Otters have defeated at least two nationally–ranked teams in the same season for the second time in three seasons. The 2013–14 Otters defeated No. 25 Chico State 73–72 and No. 18 Cal Poly Pomona (60–57) with both of those wins coming on the road.

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE DOGPILE: Senior guard Alex Fertig is now responsible for starting two dogpiles with buzzer–beating three pointers to knock off ranked opponents. In addition to his game–winner against Cal Poly Pomona last Thursday, he also drained a trey to knock off No. 25 Chico State in Chico (73–72) on Jan. 18, 2014.

LARGE MARGINS: The 97–65 (32–point) win over San Marcos was CSUMB's second–biggest margin over an NCAA Division II opponent. The biggest came on Dec. 1 when the Otters defeated NDNU by 40 points (90–50). Adding the 86–56 win over Stanislaus (Dec. 11) and a 93–67 win over Simon Fraser (Nov. 29) into the equation, CSUMB's four biggest wins over NCAA Division II opponents have all come this season.

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 on Nov. 21 snapped a 5–game win streak when the Otters scored 80+ in regulation. Not to worry, though. Things returned to their natural order and the current streak in such games now stands at six wins. MB is 29–4 all–time under Bishop when scoring at least 80 in regulation.

ON THE BLOCKS, TEAM RECORD PACE EDITION: The Otters entered the weekend No. 2 in the CCAA with 89 blocks (3.9 bpg). They are in line for 101 blocks in the regular season alone. The MB record is 109 blocks set in 2005–06.

ON THE BLOCKS, INDIVIDUAL RECORD PACE EDITION: With five games remaining in the regular season, Gregg Polosky's 33 blocked shots already rank No. 4 on the Otter single season list. Bill Curry set the Otter season record of 40 blocks during the 2000–01 season. Polosky is on pace for 39.

DON'T LOOK BEHIND YOU: In terms of active players, Alex Fertig (1,315 points) has a 434 point lead over Evan Zeller in the Otter career scoring race. Zeller currently sits in 9th place with 881 points. He needs 65 points to catch D'Shon Cannon for the No. 8 spot.

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.