Freshman guard Evan Zeller scored a career-high 19 points Saturday night against No. 17 Cal State San Bernardino.
BOX SCORE
CAL ST. SAN BERN. 79, CAL ST. MONTEREY BAY 77
FINAL BOX SCORE | POSTGAME VIDEO |
|
SCOREBOARD |
1 |
2 |
OT |
FINAL |
|
Cal St. San Bernardino (19-3, 16-2 CCAA) |
31 |
48 |
|
79 |
|
Cal St. Monterey Bay (9-12, 7-11 CCAA) |
41 |
36 |
|
77 |
|
|
TOP PERFORMERS |
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|
SEASIDE, Calif. — The Cal State Monterey Bay men's basketball team came within 1.5 seconds of capping what would have been an impressive trifecta of wins over nationally–ranked teams before falling on Lacey Haddock's late layup in a 79–77 setback to No. 17 Cal State San Bernardino Saturday night in The Kelp Bed.
In their last two tries against ranked foes, the Otters defeated No. 25 Chico State and No. 18 Cal Poly Pomona—both on the road—but couldn't quite finish off another giant slaying in this one.
CSUMB built a 41–31 halftime lead before San Bernardino opened the second period with a 15–5 run to square the game. Ten ties, 19 lead changes and 39:32 after the opening tip, a pair of
Evan Zeller (Mission Viejo HS) free throws gave fans the 11 tie of the night at 77–77.
Following a San Bernardino timeout, Haddock milked the clock until five seconds remained the made strong move to the basket for a scooping layup attempt. The ball bounced around the cylinder—robbing the Otters of a valuable second—before falling through to give the Coyotes the lead with 1.5 seconds remaining.
The Otters actually managed to get a 40–foot attempt off before the final horn, but it didn't come close.
Ryan Nitz (Rancho Cucamonga/Chaffey College) led three Otters in double figures with 20 points, his seventh 20–plus point game of the season. Zeller added a career–high 19 points while
Kris Gallop (Vallejo/Los Medanos College) led all rebounders with nine boards.
Monterey High and MPC product Andrew Young led all scorers with 21 points for San Bernardino.
The Otters will continue their chase for a CCAA Tournament bid next week when they returns to action Friday and Saturday, Feb. 21 and 22, concluding the home portion of their 2013–14 schedule by hosting Chico State and Cal State San Stanislaus.
GO OTTERS!
