Men's Basketball | November 20, 2017

SEASIDE, Calif. — The Cal State Monterey Bay men's basketball team first taste of home cooking comes—fittingly enough—Thanksgiving week as the Otters prepare to play the first two home games of the Isaac Williams era. CSUMB will host Saint Martin's University Tuesday (Nov. 21) for a nonconference game before welcoming CCAA rival Sonoma State to The Kelp Bed Saturday. Both games will tip-off at 7:30 p.m.

The Otters are coming off their first win of the season thanks to Saturday's 55–54 victory at Cal State Dominguez Hills. The win leaves CSUMB at 1–3 overall and 1–1 in CCAA play. Saint Martin's will enter Tuesday's game at 2–1 overall. Sonoma State is 2–2 overall and Saturday's game will be the CCAA opener for the Seawolves.

Also note that there will be free admission for all fans to Saturday's game with Sonoma.

Fans who can't make it to The Kelp Bed can catch all of the action online. Kirsten Fairchild will call the action on the video Stream at OtterAthletics.com Tuesday. Rob Ponce and Alex Hudson will have the call on KION 101.1 FM (and iHeartRadio) Tuesday and will call the simulcast Saturday.

As always, live stats also will be available via OtterAthletics.com.
 

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SAINTS 3–DOT NOTES (2–1, 0–0 GNAC): The Saints are off to a 2–1 start under former San Francisco State assistant Alex Pribble, who is in his third season at SMU's helm…they have wins against Fresno Pacific and Hawaii–Hilo and a loss to highly–regarded Point Loma Nazarene on their 2017–18 resumé…Luke Chavez (Jr./G) leads the Saint offense at 16.3 ppg while EJ Boyce (Jr./G) adds 14.3 ppg…Jordan Kitchen (Jr./F) is SMU's top rebounder at 7.7 rpg.

WHEN LAST WE MET: Saint Martin's was part of a curiously slow start for what would turn out to be one of CSUMB's best seasons at the NCAA level when the Saints took a 90–83 decision from the Otters at the Doubletree By Hilton Shootout in Nov., 2015. The Otters pulled to within five twice down the stretch, but SMU went 10–for–10 from the line in the final 72 seconds to hold off the comeback attempt. Ryan Nitz scored 28 points to lead the Otters. Mateo Jones added 15 points, five rebounds and four steals. Cole Preston led four Saints in double figures with 19.

WHEN LAST WE PLAYED: After trading big runs in the first half, Cal State Dominguez Hills held the lead for nearly 20 minutes until a pair of Anthony Booker free throws gave the Otters late en route to a 55–54 win. Sophomore guard Jahvon Johnson led the way with a career–high 20 points for the Otters.

THE GAME WAS STATISTICALLY OVER WHEN… Gregg Polosky grabbed a loose ball under the Toro basket as the final buzzer sounded.

WELCOME ABOARD ISAAC WILLIAMS: Isaac Williams comes to CSUMB after posting a 120–41 record in five seasons as head coach at Eastern Oregon University. He replaced Rob Bishop, who went 86–157 in nine seasons with the Otters. Williams led EOU to a 24–9 record and the second round of the NAIA Championship Tournament in 2016–17.

THIS DATE IN OTTER HISTORY: Gregg Polosky set a CSUMB record by blocking six shots, but it wasn't enough as Saint Martin's held on for a 90–83 victory on Nov. 21, 2015.

DOING IT WITH DEFENSE… The Otters trailed Dominguez Hills 43–37 with 10:21 remaining. Over that final 10:21, CSUMB held the Toros to 2–for–12 shooting (.167) from the field with four turnovers over the final 15 Toro possessions.

60 SHALL BE THE NUMBER, NO LESS—NO MORE! Saturday's 55–54 win at Cal State Dominguez Hills snapped a 53–game run in which the Otters hadn't won while scoring few than 60 points in NCAA Division II play. The streak dated back to the 2004–05 season, their first at the NCAA Division II level. Prior to Saturday's win, 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.

CAN'T KEEP A GOOD MAN DOWN… The Toros held Mateo Jones to a season–low seven points Saturday night, but you can't keep a good man down. Jones came through with a career–high 12 rebounds to lead both teams.

AMONG THE CCAA LEADERS: At 15.5 ppg and 9.0 rpg, Mateo Jones enters the week ranked No. 9 on the CCAA scoring list and No. 2 on the CCAA rebounding list. For good measure, his 2.0 spg have him tied for No. 4 in that category. 

WHY PLAY 40 MINUTES? The final five minutes of games have been all but irrelevant for the Otter men's and women's basketball teams since last season. Since the start of 2016–17, the Otter men are 5–0 when leading after 35 minutes and 0–25 when trailing after 35 minutes. The women, meanwhile, are 9–0 when leading after 35 and 0–22 when trailing after 35.

WE LOVE THE 80s: The 80s have usually been incredibly friendly territory for the Otters in recent history. The Nov. 10th 93–87 loss to Central Washington last season snapped a 7–game win streak when the Otters scored 80+ in regulation. CSUMB is 40–5 (.889) in its last 45 games when scoring at least 80 in regulation dating to the 2007–08 season.