BOX SCORE

CAL ST. MONTEREY BAY 89, Cal St. East Bay 83  FINAL BOX SCORE  |  POSTGAME VIDEO

SCOREBOARD  1  2  OT  FINAL Cal St. East Bay (5-5, 2-2 CCAA)  41  42  83 Cal St. Monterey Bay (3-4, 1-3 CCAA)  41  48  89

TOP PERFORMERS

OTTERS No. STAT No. PIONEERS Ryan Nitz 20 Points 19 Gabe Kindred Evan Zeller 5 Rebounds 12 Ryan Hebebrand Devin Murphy Ryan Nitz 3 Assists 4 Donavon Jackson

SEASIDE, Calif. — Finally, field goals fell like snow flakes in a Midwestern winter storm for the Cal State Monterey Bay men's basketball team as the Otters bid farewell to the 2013 calendar year with an 89–83 win over Cal State East Bay Saturday night in The Kelp Bed.

CSUMB (3–4, 1–3 CCAA), mired in a 4–game shooting funk that included a season–low 30.2 percent effort in a 76–61 loss at East Bay seven days earlier, shot a season–high 60.7 percent (33–of–55) from the field in this go–round. For its part, East Bay, which made an incredible 31 of 32 free throws in the first meeting, converted just 13–of–22 from the stripe this time.

Heroes were plenty for the Otters, with five players scoring in double figures. Junior swingman Ryan Nitz (Rancho Cucamonga/Chaffey College) led CSUMB for the sixth time in seven games with 20 points. It was the second consecutive 20–point game for Nitz and his fourth already this season.

Nitz also recorded a team season–high five steals for the second consecutive game.

Perhaps no Otter played a more pivotal role in the outcome than junior forward Greg Anderson (Murietta/Palomar College), who came off the bench for the first time and scored a season–high 12 points on a perfect shooting night. Anderson went 5–for–5 from the floor (including a 3–pointer) and converted his only free–throw attempt.

Freshman guard Evan Zeller (Mission Viejo HS) also made big contributions, scoring a season–high 14 points, collecting a season–high three steals and matching his season best with five rebounds in his first collegiate start.

Also of note, sophomore Alex Fertig (Fresno/Buchanan HS) finished with 13 points, falling 12 points shy of becoming the fastest player in Otter history to 500 career points.

The game was close throughout, with eight ties and seven lead changes in the second half alone. Although the Otters led by as many as 10 points in the first half (41–31), neither team led by more than five in the second half until four consecutive Nitz free throws extended the CSUMB lead to 88–80 with nine seconds to play.

Gabe Kindred, who went 16–of–16 from the free–throw line when the teams met last week, led East Bay (5–5, 2–2) with 19 points, including a pedestrian 5–of–9 performance from the line.

CSUMB will take the week for the Christmas holiday before it rings in the new year by hosting Humboldt State on Friday, Jan. 4.