TURLOCK — The Warriors blocked two easy shots by Sonoma State that would have tied the game in the final seconds as Cal State Stanislaus survived a late Seawolves attack to stay in first place after a 73-70 win Friday night at Fitzpatrick Arena.

Two consecutive shots by SSU's David Ahern, the second one an easy layup under the basket on an in-bounds play, were blocked by Rob Walters and Chris Read, respectively, as the Warriors held on. Stanislaus improved to 10-4 overall and 7-2 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association with a three-game winning streak. The Warriors have also won five of the last six conference games.

The win over a strong Sonoma State (8-5, 5-4 CCAA) team, which was in first place until two road losses last weekend meant the Warriors remain tied for first with Cal Poly Pomona, which beat Cal State Dominguez Hills in Carson Friday.

Wes Bartole led the Warriors with 18 points and nine rebounds. He also had a blocked shot and four steals to lead the Stanislaus defense. Chris Read added 16 points and Shey Mataele scored 10. Two more Warriors — Alek Carlson and Rob Walters — each also had nine points for a balanced scoring game.

Sonoma State made its living on the free throw line to stay in the game. The Seawolves converted on 18 of their first 20 free throws to finish 26 for 30 on the foul line with 18 of those points came in the second half. By comparison, the Warriors were 14 of 18 with most of those tries late in the game.

The Seawolves cut an eight-point deficit down to two in the final four minutes of the game. The Warriors held a slim two-point lead after Ahern made one of his three-pointers with 1:00 left to play. With 15 seconds left, his short jumper from about 8-foot out was blocked by Walters off the backboard. On the in-bounds play, Ahern got the ball under the basket, but his try was tipped by Read to keep the game at 72-70.

Walters made one of two free throws with 7.8 seconds left for the final score.

Stanislaus never really got the offense flowing with a lot of stopped action on foul calls. The Warriors were charged 25 fouls in the end. But the defense stepped up when the Warriors needed the most resulted in four blocked shots and eight steals on the night.

Cal State Stanislaus extended its winning streak over Sonoma State to three games after sweeping SSU in 2013-14.

Ahern finished with 18 points to lead Sonoma State and James Davis added 14 points.