CSUSM men’s basketball team ends their losing streak with a win against West Coast Baptist. The Cougars opened up their three game homestand with a tough CCAA matchup against San Francisco State which the Cougars dropped 76-85.

Off a one-day rest, Sonoma State came into the Sports Center where they beat the Cougars, 64-70.  After a couple of days off, CSUSM finished their homestead by defeating West Coast Baptist, 93-68.

The Jan. 26 heavy weight fight against San Francisco State started fast with the Cougars on attack mode.  CSUSM jumped out to a five point lead two times during the first half and took the Gators into halftime leading 32-27 after guard Josh Spiers knocked down a triple.

Coming out of halftime, the Gators turned the pressure up, continuously chiseling away at the Cougars’ lead.  With 12:47 remaining in the game, the Gators tied it up to a score of 46-46.

Cougar Ethan Alvano responded with a seven point run late in the second half, 63-56, following an Alvano layup.

With a clutch three-point shot from SF State’s Coley Apsay #10 to break the 73-73 tie, the Gators gained momentum and sucked the air out of the Sports Center.  With the energy leaning towards the Gators, SF State went on a 10-0 run to move on top 83-73.

The lead for the Gators seemed insurmountable for the Cougars, who eventually lost the heartbreaker 85-76.

“We didn’t play very good at all,” said CSUSM Head Coach B.J. Foster, “The entire game was a very lethargic, lackluster effort across the board. We had spurts where I thought we played hard, but we didn’t play consistently hard the entire evening.”

Junior guard Ethan Alvano led all scorers with 23 points. He added four assists and six rebounds.  The CCAA player of the month, Tyson Kygar added 11 points of his own with five of them coming from the charity strike.

Alvano said the team has to keep moving forward.

“We know we can fix our mistakes and we should be in good shape here finishing out the rest of the season,” said Alvano.

The Cougars have six more games left remaining on their schedule, and they will return home to play Cal State Monterey Bay on Thursday Feb. 16 at 7:30 p.m.