It came down to the final moments of the game in a very tightly-contested battle - and the visiting Cal State Monterey Bay Otters ended up on top with a 78-74 win Saturday night at Fitzpatrick Arena.
The Otters made their plays down the stretch while the Warriors surrendered opportunities as Cal State Stanislaus fell to Cal State Monterey Bay for the first time in three seasons.
Cal State Stanislaus, now 7-9 overall and 4-8 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association, was led by Marcus Walters with 16 points and six rebounds. Nick Hodge chipped in 12 with seven boards and Wes Bartole added 10 points to the totals.
However, the Otters eventually won at the free throw line, hitting 20 of 27 attempts including all six in the final 34 seconds to seal the win.
The game saw 11 ties with CSUMB's Alex Fertig's three-pointer at 3:04 to go breaking the final one. Before that, no one led by more than four points in the second half.
While the Otters (8-11, 4-8 CCAA) were making their free throws, the Warriors weren't able to get the all-so-important key bucket late in the game. In the final minute and a half, Stanislaus missed three open three-pointers and two layups.
Fertig finished with 20 points to lead CSUMB and Kevin Loustale pulled 15 boards to go with 11 points.
Before the game, the Warriors had won four straight over the past two seasons over Cal State Monterey Bay. Stanislaus also fell to 2-6 at home this season (1-6 in CCAA play).