Men's Basketball | December 05, 2017

FULL NOTEBOOK (PDF)


SEASIDE, Calif. — There's just one game on tap for the Cal State Monterey Bay men's basketball team this week, but it promises to be a tough one as the Otter head to America's Finest City to take on defending CCAA Champion UC San Diego Friday (Dec. 8) in La Jolla. The game will tip-off at 7:30 p.m. as the nightcap of men's/women's doubleheader action.

UCSD will provide live video and live stats for Friday's game. Live audio will be available in the Monterey Bay area on KION 101.1 FM and the KION iHeart Radio stream. Rob Ponce will have the call from RIMAC Arena.

LIVE VIDEO | LIVE AUDIO | LIVE STATS
 

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TRITON 3–DOT NOTES (5–3, 2–0 CCAA): UCSD is the defending CCAA Champion…hosted but lost in the West Regional title game last season…Christian Bayne (Jr./G) and Christian Oshita (Jr./F) lead a top–heavy scoring chart at 17.1 and 15.5 points per game…Oshita tops the rebounding chart at 6.1 rpg…Bayne is a transfer from Stanislaus State.

WHEN LAST WE MET: After nearly pulling off the upset a month earlier, the short–handed Otters could only hang around through the first half of this one before UCSD pulled away en route to a 74–41 win. Julien Ducree posted a 14–point, 10–rebound double–double and Joe Covarrubias added 12 points to lead the Otters. Aleks Lipovic led the Tritons with 16 points.

WHEN LAST WE PLAYED: East Bay closed the first half with a 13–2 run to take control in what became a 76–54 Pioneer win Saturday in The Kelp Bed. Jahvon Johnson scored a career–high 21 points and Mateo Jones had an 11–point, 16–rebound double–double.

THE GAME WAS STATISTICALLY OVER WHEN…Jelani Mitchell knocked down a free throw to give East Bay a 69–49 lead with 4:08 remaining.

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: Then Otters made 12 3–pointers (then the No. 2 mark in CSUMB history) en route to a an 80–77 win over Chaminade at Sonoma State on Dec. 8, 2006. Jose Sanchez led the Otters with four treys in the game. D'Shon Cannon made a pair as part of his game–high 19 points.

HIGHER AND HIGHER… Jahvon Johnson keeps raising the bar on his scoring top marks list. He has posted his three highest scoring totals in his last six games, including a career–high 21 points Saturday versus East Bay.

DOUBLE DOUBLE–DOUBLES… Mateo Jones complete his second consecutive double–double (and his third of the season) with his 11–point, 16–rebound effort Saturday versus East Bay. He is fourth player in Otter history to do it and the first to post consecutive double–doubles since Joe Mitchell turned the trick at Humboldt State and Cal State L.A. Jan. 3–10, 2009.

ON THE BLOCKS… Gregg Polosky's three blocks Saturday night versus East Bay extended his Otter career record to 70 blocked shots. The next closest Otters are Jay Demaestri and Kris Gallop with 46 blocks apiece.

A THIEF IN THE NIGHT… Mateo Jones collected five steals Sunday at Dominican (Nov. 26) for his second 5–steal game of the season. He is tied with D'Shon Cannon (2005–08) for No. 5 on the Otter career steals list with 85. Alex Fertig owns the CSUMB career record with 108 steals from 2013–16.

AMONG THE CCAA LEADERS: Mateo Jones enters the week ranked No. 3 the CCAA in steals (21, 2.3 spg) and rebounding (9.2). Other Otters among the leaders include: BLOCKS: Gregg Polosky (No. 5, 1.1 bpg); REBOUNDING: Gregg Polosky (No. 11, 6.3 rpg); ASSISTS: Jonquis Bouyea (No. 12, 2.9 apg). 

WHY PLAY 40 MINUTES? Last Thursday night's men's victory over Humboldt State broke a long streak. An Otter team won when trailing with five minutes to play for the first time in 68 games. Since the start of 2016–17, the Otter men are now 6–0 when leading after 35 minutes and 1–28 when trailing after 35 minutes. The women, meanwhile, are 10–0 when leading after 35 and 0–25 when trailing after 35.

60 SHALL BE THE NUMBER, NO LESS—NO MORE! The 55–54 win at Cal State Dominguez Hills on Nov. 18 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.

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 41–5 (.889) in its last 46 games when scoring at least 80 in regulation dating to the 2007–08 season.