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Tournament Central]
After being picked to finish last in the CCAA preseason coaches poll, Sonoma State is moving on to the semifinals of the 2023 CCAA Men's Basketball Championship with a 73-57 over Cal Poly Humboldt in the 4/5 game.
2022-23 CCAA Player of the Year, Jaylen Wells, led all student-athletes with 29 points, but he had lots of help as three other Seawolves also reached double-figures. Austin Fadal had 13 points and matched Wells with a game-high nine rebounds. Nick Medeiros added 11 points, and Nick Klarman chipped in with 10. Dillon Iyawe added eight points and nine boards.
The five starters for Sonoma State combined to shoot 28-of-31 on free throws to outscore Cal Poly Humboldt by 19 points at the charity stripe. Sonoma State also won the turnover battle 19-12, and they used this advantage to help control the tempo in the second half.
The Lumberjacks started the game as the better shooting team and led 30-29 at the half. The Seawolves came out of the locker room and took control of the game with an 18-6 run over the first nine minutes of the second half to build a 47-36 lead - a lead they would never relinquish.
An and-1 layup and free throw by Amari Green cut the Jacks' deficit to five (51-46) with 8:45 remaining. Sonoma immediately answered with a 13-4 run, giving the Seawolves a 14-point lead with 3:28 remaining. SSU went 6-of-8 at the free throw line the rest of the way to close out the game as they outscored HUM in the second half 44-27.
Brandon Porter led Cal Poly Humboldt with 18 points and eight rebounds. Kareem Clark came off the bench to score 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting. Humboldt's bench outscored Sonoma's 23-2.
Sonoma State will face the No. 1 seed in the CCAA Tournament, Cal State San Bernardino, in the semifinals on Friday, Mar. 3, at 2:30 p.m.