VALLEJO — The Warriors' best start in program history during the CCAA era continues as they defeated Cal Maritime, 94-69, in an unusual non-conference away contest late Saturday night.
Cal Maritime used three pointers to stay in the game and was within a single point early in the second half before the depth of Stanislaus State held strong to pull away in late. Stan State improved to 9-2 on the season with its fifth consecutive win. The Warriors are now 6-1 in their last seven games.
Only the 2014 CCAA championship team had a five game winning streak during the regular season. That team won its first five games en route to an 11-3 start.
On Saturday night,
Andy Cleaves lead a trio of Warriors with 23 points.
Xavier Francois scored 19 points and
Vida Faniel added 18 to pace the Stan State offense. Francois and Faniel also had seven and six rebounds, respectively.
Cal Maritime, a NAIA team in the PacWest, held its own before falling to 8-6 on the season. The Keelhaulers were 8 of 13 in the first half beyond the arch to stay in the ball game. They ended up with 15 three-pointers out of 23 field goals made. Phil Randles led with 19 points including five three-pointers.
The Warriors used a 27-7 run in the final seven minutes of play to post the runaway victory.
Stan State will host Seattle Pacific (5-3), one of the top programs in the West Region, Monday night inside Ed & Bertha Fitzpatrick Arena. Tipoff is at 7 p.m. It will be a rematch of the NCAA West Region quarterfinal game from 2014.