SEASIDE, Calif. — A hot shooting night from behind the free–throw and 3–point lines propelled the Cal State Monterey Bay men's basketball team to a 75–68 win over Northwest Nazarene University Thursday night in The Kelp Bed. With the win, the Otters (5–4 overall) finish the nonconference portion of their schedule with a 4–2 mark, their best record outside of CCAA play since going 8–4 during the 2008–09 season.

Junior guard Alex Fertig (Fresno/Buchanan HS) gave a jack-of-all-trades performance for CSUMB, finishing with a game–high 21 points, three assists and four steals. Evan Zeller (Mission Viejo HS) chipped in 15 points while Patrick Lefiti (Bay Point/Los Medanos College) added 10 points, five assists and a career–high eight rebounds.

The Otters shot a season–best 47.1 percent (8-of-17) from 3–point range as well as a season–high 86.7 percent (13-of-15) from the free–throw line. They needed every bit of that effort to hold off a late charge by the Crusaders, who shot 53 percent from the floor in the second—making seven treys in the process—to fight back from a 24–point deficit with 13 minutes to play.

The Otters raced to their biggest halftime lead of the season, 38–21, thanks to a defense that forced 12 first half turnovers and an offense that committed only three. After expanding their lead to 56–32 on a Marquise Washington (Los Angeles/Cerritos College) layup with 13:03 to remaining, however, they had to batten down the hatches to weather a Northwest Nazarene storm that nearly brought the Crusaders all the way back.

NNU chipped away at the CSUMB lead over the ensuing nine minutes, eventually pulling to within four at 63–59 on a David Shedrick 3–pointer with 4:14 left. But a Lefiti 3–point play pushed the lead back to seven, 65–59, and the Crusaders never held the ball within two possession of the lead for the balance of the game.

CSUMB will close the 2014 calendar year Saturday by hosting CCAA foe Cal State East Bay for a 3 p.m. matinee in The Kelp Bed.