Cal State men surge past Sonoma State

In a game it led from start to finish, the Cal State San Bernardino men’s basketball team gave head coach Jeff Oliver no sense of certainty Friday night against Sonoma State.

“I didn’t feel like we were in control at any point,” Oliver said after the Coyotes’ 65-47 victory at Coussoulis Arena.

Yet while the Seawolves were hanging around, never getting behind by more than 10 points until under three minutes remained, Michael Earl was playing with a purpose.

The Coyotes’ center was injured and had to sit out his team’s 76-65 loss to UC San Diego in their most recent outing.

Three days earlier on Jan. 16, Earl rolled his right ankle in a stunning overtime loss at Cal Poly Pomona in his native city.

“Coming off that game, then not playing the next game, I definitely had to show up,” Earl said. “You always want to have a good showing at home. There was a sense of urgency.”

On Friday, it showed. Earl’s 21 points, on 8-of-10 shooting, was his highest point total of the season. He also finished with 11 points, three blocked shots and hit 5-of-6 free throws in a game of inches.
Combined with first-place Humboldt State’s 76-61 loss to upstart Cal Poly Pomona, the win gave Cal State San Bernardino (14-3, 7-2 California Collegiate Athletic Association) the share of first place it had lost last week.

Coming off the ankle injury, Earl had not practiced consistently this week, Oliver said. As a result, the 6-foot-8 senior came off the bench for the sixth time this season.
It didn’t take him long to establish a presence, scoring 11 before the half and staying out of foul trouble on a taped-up ankle.

“We needed him,” Oliver said of Earl. “(Sonoma State) jumped up defensively and played some nontraditional styles of defense. We needed someone other than Marlon (Pierce) and Lance (Ortiz) to step up.”

In a rare confluence of futility, the team’s two point guards shot a combined 3-for-11 from the field and weren’t a factor on offense.

In their stead, reserve guard Renardo Bass stepped up. His 11 points, on 5-of-7 field goals, were also a season high. He led the Coyotes with three steals and his nine rebounds were second only to Earl.

“We had to get back to what we were doing from the beginning (of the season),” Bass said. “I’ve been playing hard all season long … different guys just step up in different games.”

Sonoma State (8-7, 4-5) had just one win in the two team’s previous eight meetings, but managed to make it interesting with a balanced, inside-out attack.

Cal State didn’t allow a field goal until Andrew Kochevar’s 3-pointer 6:39 into the game, but was unable to solve the Seawolves’ halfcourt defense. Spreading the ball around, nine different players got on the scoreboard but only Bass and Earl managed double figures.

Coming off two straight losses, and with first place on the line tonight against Humboldt State, Cal State will take the win any way it can get it.

“It was good for us to be able to make plays,” Oliver said. “Hopefully that gives guys confidence for tonight''