BOX SCORE ROHNERT PARK, Calif- Behind the 25 points of
Will Olsem, who went 7 for 10 from three-point range, and 19 points from
Justin Herold, the Sonoma State men's basketball team took control in the second half and rolled to a 81-69 victory over visiting San Francisco State on Thursday evening at The Wolves' Den. The Seawolves have now won four of their last five games, improving to 6-7 overall and 4-5 in the CCAA. Meanwhile, the Gators stumble to 4-10 (2-6 CCAA).
Thursday night also featured
Steven Pratt's 1,000th-career point. With nine points against the Gators, all coming in the second half, the senior from Pleasanton becomes just the 11th player in SSU men's basketball history to reach the 1,000-point plateau. In 92 career games, Pratt has scored 1,007 points in his four-year career, averaging 10.9 points per game.
Olsem was just two long balls from tying the single-game record for most three-pointers in a game (which is nine, set by Andrew Kochevar on Feb 22, 2007 against Cal State L.A.). He went 9 of 14 from the floor, in addition to corralling six rebounds. Herold connected on 7 of 14 from the hardwood, including 5 of 6 from the free throw line.
Sterling Arterberry also netted double-figures for the Seawolves, dropping 15, nine of which came from the charity stripe (9-10).
As a team, Sonoma State nailed 52.0 percent of its shots (26-50), including a torching 15 for 23 (65.2 percent) in the second half alone. The Seawolves, who got a game-high eight rebounds from
Brian Crow, outrebounded the Gators, 37-29.
The first half saw four ties and five lead changes between Sonoma State and San Francisco State. It was the Gators that would take an early 13-7 lead, just five minutes into the ballgame. Five straight points from SSU cut the SFSU lead to one and for the rest of the half, neither team lead by more than three points at any time, but a layup by
Patrick Scott with 1:10 left in the opening half gave Sonoma State the narrow 30-29 lead at the break.
It was much of the same to open the second period of play, but a three-pointer by SFSU's Reilly Griffin put the Gators up five (38-33), forcing SSU head coach
Pat Fuscaldo to call a timeout. That's when Sonoma State (and Olsem) began the assault. A jumper by Herold cut the deficit to three, then Olsem tied the game at 38-38 with a three-pointer. Olsem would hit his next four three-point attempts over a span of four minutes, spearheading what was a five-point deficit to a 13-point lead (57-44) in a matter of seven minutes, a Seawolf run of 24-6.
The momentum would remain with Sonoma State until San Francisco State eventually made a run of its own, coming to within five points at 66-61 with 4:06 to play in regulation. However, a dunk by Herold (one of four one-handed jams on the night), put the Seawolves up seven (68-61) with 3:35 on the clock. From then on, the game would feature foul after foul, but Sonoma State put the game away, hitting 13 of its last 15 free throws in the final 2:14 of the contest (20 of 28 overall) to take the 81-69 victory.
San Francisco State was led by the 19 points of Griffin and 18 points of Nefi Perdomo. The Gators converted 41.3 percent of their shots (26-63), including just 7 of 23 from beyond the arc.
Sonoma State will return to action on Saturday when it welcomes 10th-ranked Cal Poly Pomona (9-2, 6-2 CCAA) into The Wolves' Den for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff. The Broncos, however, lost to Humboldt State on Thursday, 74-64, up in Arcata.
