Basketball season is officially over for both the Men’s and Women’s teams. It was an outstanding season for the Cougars, with the men ending with an overall score of 20-5 and the women with an overall score of 22-4.

Men’s Basketball 

On March 11th, the men’s team traveled to San Bernardino to compete against Alaska Fairbanks in the NCAA West Regional Quarterfinal. They returned home that night with a defeat in an ending score of 63-70.

Fairbanks took a lead at the start of the game and kept that lead till the end of first period, keeping a 14 point difference with 23-37 on the scoreboard. The game came into a tie with 7:27 on the clock, scoring 53 both teams. Till the end of the game, the cougars caught up to tie with Alaska twice before the final buzzer, never gaining the opportunity to lead the game.

Regardless of their loss, the team played a good game, sweating blue.

Women’s Basketball

The women’s basketball team competed in their NCAA West Regional Quarterfinal on Match 11th at Cal State East Bay against Azusa Pacific University. With just a 3-point difference, the game ended with a final score of 86-89 in overtime, CSUSM coming home with a defeat.

The women’s team were set in the Quarterfinal as the fourth seed, No. 20/21. The cougars went into half time leading with 8 points at 41-33, and in returning to the court, they kept their lead into the end of the game with 76-73 on the scoreboard…up until the last seconds before the final buzzer.

Azusa Pacific made a three-point shot right on the buzzer, causing the game to go into overtime. Set at a tie for most of the extra period, APU took a lead with a little over 2 minutes on the clock, carrying it through till the final buzzer of the overtime period.

These two games proved the skills of all teams competing, creating an exciting atmosphere for the fans. The next season will be heavily anticipated for both CSUSM basketball teams, and until then, we can bask in the achievements of this 2021/22 season.