SAN MARCOS —
Vida Faniel scored 20-plus points for the second straight game to help Stanislaus State stage a huge comeback against Cal State San Marcos. But the conference's top scorer broke the Warriors' hearts with another long dagger as the hosts edged the Warriors, 81-79.
Faniel scored 21 points — following his 20-point performance Thursday night at UC San Diego — and
Andy Cleaves added 10 points with 11 rebounds to lead Stan State. The Warriors, however, split the road trip to fall to 12-7 overall and 7-6 in the CCAA.
Cal State San Marcos keeps pace with Cal Poly Pomona (11-2 CCAA) by improving to 9-2 in the CCAA (14-3 overall).
With Stan State leading by one, 79-78, after a pair of Cleaves free throws, Ethan Alvano drained a three-pointer with 19 seconds left to give the Cougars their final lead.
Alvano made a three-pointer with three seconds left to play in CSUSM's last game a week ago at Cal State Monterey Bay to lift the Cougars, 84-81. CSUSM entered the night as the top offense in the CCAA at 82.3 points per game. Alvano is the CCAA's top scorer with a 22.8 average.
Alvano scored 31 points, including eight three-pointers, Saturday night against the Warriors.
Stanislaus had trailed by as many as 17 points after an 11-point run by CSUSM that started with a minute left in the first half and with Alvano hitting the first basket (yes, a three-pointer) to start the second half.
But the Warriors rallied.
A 19-5 run got the Warriors within three points seven minutes into the second half. After back-to-back triples by Alvano and Josh Spiers, the Warriors erased that 9-point deficit with a 9-0 run capped by a
Rolaun Dunham trey.
The game would stay tight until the final minutes. Stan State took its first lead on a pair of Faniel free throws at 3:06 and would go up by one again with those two free throws by Cleaves that made it 79-78.
In fact, either team made a field goal in the final 3:46 —except for that Alvano game-winner.
Kyle Gouveia added 10 points and pulled seven rebounds to the Warriors' totals.
