BOX SCORE

CAL ST. DOM. HILLS 82, CAL ST. MONTEREY BAY 80 (ot) FINAL BOX SCORE

SCOREBOARD  1  2  OT  FINAL Cal St. Monterey Bay (6-10, 4-9 CCAA)  33  37  10  80 Cal St. Dominguez Hills (5-14, 3-10 CCAA)  31  39  12  82

TOP PERFORMERS

OTTERS No. STAT No. TOROS Ryan Nitz 25 Points 20 Darnell Martin Greg Anderson 7 Rebounds 8 Moriba DeFreitas Evan Zeller 5 Assists 7 Chris Carvin

CARSON, Calif. — In a game that may come back to haunt the Cal State Monterey Bay men's basketball team before the CCAA Tournament race is over, the Otters gave themselves multiple opportunities to win before falling to Cal State Dominguez Hills in overtime, 82–80, Friday night in The Torodome.

Junior swingman Ryan Nitz (Rancho Cucamonga/Chaffey College), who finished with a game–high 25 points, had a chance to put the Otters on top with 7.1 second remaining but missed the second of two free throws and the game went to overtime tied at 70–70.

Nitz kept the Otters on life support late by knocking down a 3–pointer with 5.1 second remaining in overtime to pull the Otters back to within 82–80. Devin Murphy (Sacramento/Sierra College) then gave the Otters a chance at an improbable victory when he knocked the ball off a Toro and out of bounds on the ensuing inbounds play.

The Otters got the ball to Nitz again, but this time his 3–point attempt didn't find its mark and CSUDH held on for the win.

Neither team was able to take control until the final buzzer. The Otters owned the biggest lead of the night at 22–12 seven minutes into the first half. The Toros never led by more than five.

Although the game never got beyond a two possession lead in the second half, the teams played through just six ties and six lead changes after the break. The Toros had the first chance at seizing control late when they went up 70–66 with 26 seconds to play.

The Otters responded with a Greg Anderson (Murietta/Palomar College) layup and free throw to pull to within one. A traveling call on Stephon Neal gave the Otters the ball back with 17 seconds left and a chance to win on the final possession. Nitz drove and was fouled by Moriba DeFreitas with 7.1 seconds to play.

Nitz, who had made 24 consecutive free throws entering the game, made his first to make him 8–of–10 from the line before he missed the second, sending the game to overtime.

As a team, the Otters missed 15 free throws on the night, spoiling a game in which the offense turned the ball over just nine times, its second best night of the season.

In addition to Nitz, the Otters got 16 points from Alex Fertig (Fresno/Buchanan HS) and 15 points from Anderson. Anderson also led a balanced Otter effort on the glass with seven rebounds. Freshman Evan Zeller (Mission Viejo HS) came off the bench to pass for a team–high five assists.