Men's Basketball | January 09, 2018

FULL NOTEBOOK (PDF)

SEASIDE, Calif.—A big weekend is on tap in The Kelp Bed as the Cal State Monterey Bay men's basketball team welcomes defending CCAA champion UC San Diego Thursday (Jan. 11) and 2018 contender Cal State San Marcos Saturday (Jan. 13) to close a 3–game homestand.

The Otters will be looking to complete a seasons sweep of UCSD, whom the beat 78-76 in La Jolla on Dec. 8. Saturday will be the only meeting of the season between CSUMB and San Marcos.

Fans who can't make it to The Kelp Bed have a variety of ways to catch this weekend's action. Both games will be televised locally on Ch. 73 and streamed on OttersAthletics.com. Embele Awaipi will have the call Thursday and Kevin Richardson will be on the mike Saturday. Fans can listen live on KION 101.1 FM and on KION's iHeartRadio stream with Rob Ponce and Alex Hudson live courtside for both games.

Links for all of the video, audio and live stats streams are available at GameDay, the official game program of Otter basketball.
 

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TRITON 3–DOT NOTES (10–5, 7–2 CCAA): After losing two of three to end December, UCSD started 2018 on the right foot by sweeping Humboldt State and 2017 West Region Champion Chico State in RIMAC Arena last weekend…Christian Oshita (Jr./F) ranks among the early contenders for CCAA Player of the Year consideration, leading the Tritons at 16.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game…Stanislaus State transfer Christian Bayne (Jr./G) adds 15. 7 ppg.

WHEN LAST WE MET: The Otters earned their most impressive win of the season, battling back from 10 points down in the second half to earn a 78–76 overtime victory at defending CCAA Champion UC San Diego Dec. 8 in La Jolla. Jahvon Johnson led the way with a career–high 23 points while freshman Koen Sapwell matched his career best with 22.

WHEN LAST WE PLAYED: There's no better way to put it than that the Otters welcomed 2018 with a thud in an 83–57 loss to Stanislaus State last Thursday. The Otters stayed within range until a 21–2 run in the middle of the second half blew the game open for Stanislaus. Josh Kollman came off the bench to lead CSUMB with 15 points. 

THE GAME WAS STATISTICALLY OVER WHEN… A Xavier Francois layup gave Stanislaus a 73–44 lead with 9:57 to play.

THIS DATE IN OTTER HISTORY: Khi–Min Jung passed nine assists—then the No. 3 mark in the Otter record book—to lead CSUMB over Bethany College 82–64 on Jan. 11, 2003.

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.

A THIEF IN THE NIGHT… Senior guard Mateo Jones collected four steals last Thursday against Stanislaus to jump from No. 5 all the way to No. 2 on the CSUMB career steals list with 92 career thefts. He has 12 regular season games remaining in which to catch Alex Fertig (2012–15), who owns the Otter career record with 108 steals. If Jones maintains his current pace, he will finish with 116.

REBOUNDS ANYONE?… Rebounding has been a relative strength for CSUMB in 2017–18. That wasn't evident Thursday, however, as Stanislaus out–rebounded the Otters 48–28. It marked the largest rebounding differential against CSUMB this season.

A JJ SIX PACK… Not only did Jahvon Johnson see his streak of scoring in double figures end at six games last Thursday against Stanislaus State, he was held scoreless for the first time in his collegiate career (38 games).

AMONG THE CCAA LEADERS: Mateo Jones enters the week ranked No. 2 the CCAA in rebounding (8.9 rpg) and No. 5 in steals (2.0 spg). Other Otters among the leaders include: BLOCKS: Gregg Polosky (No. 5, 1.2 bpg); REBOUNDING: Gregg Polosky (No. 6, 7.0 rpg); SCORING: Jahvon Johnson (No. 17, 12.9 ppg); 3-pt FG pct.: Josh Kollman (No. 3, .429); 3-pt FG per game: Josh Kollman (No. 1, 3.3/g), Koen Sapwell (No. 10, 2.2/g).

WORKING OVERTIME: CSUMB's OT win at UCSD on Dec. 8 was its third overtime game of the season. That matches its most overtime games since the Otters played a school–record four such contests in 2006–07.

60 SHALL BE THE NUMBER, NO LESS—NO MORE! With a 55–54 win at Cal State Dominguez Hills on Nov. 18, the Otters snapped a 53–game run in which they 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 the Nov. 18 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. Thursday' 83–57 loss to Stanislaus makes that run 1–56.

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.