SEASIDE, Calif. — There was nothing wrong with the Cal State Monterey Bay men's basketball team that a little holiday home cooking couldn't cure. The Otters gave a tour de force performance in their home opener, picking up their first win of the season by defeating Simon Fraser University 93–67 Sunday night in The Kelp Bed.

CSUMB (1–4 overall) got a career–high 29 points from senior swingman Ryan Nitz (Rancho Cucamonga/Chaffey College), the second consecutive game in which he has posted a career high. He had 28 against Saint Martin's on Nov. 21.

While Nitz led the scoring brigade, a host of Otter contributed to Sunday's win. Alex Fertig (Fresno/Buchanan HS) contributed 14 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Patrick Lefiti (Bay Point/Los Medanos College) passed a game–high five assists while freshmen big men Gregg Polosky and Julien Ducree combined for 10 rebounds, three blocks and three steals.

The game went back and forth for the first seven minutes until, tied at 12–12, Mateo Jones (Victorville/Silverado HS) stripped JJ Pankratz of the ball near midcourt the took the ball for an authoritative dunk that highlight a 10–0 run. Within the next 10 minutes, the lead was up to 23 points and the Clan never got closer than 15 points over the final 25 minutes.

CSUMB will get a 1–day rest before returning to action Tuesday by hosting PacWest Conference rival Notre Dame de Namur for a 7 p.m. tipoff in The Kelp Bed.