Warrior Weekly: Home sweet home for hoop teams as Sonoma State, Pomona pay visits
Home. At last.
The Stanislaus State men’s basketball team will show off its new offensive prowess Thursday night when the Warriors host Sonoma State at Fitzpatrick Arena.
The home-opener was delayed by the recent campus closure due to poor air quality. The Warriors were supposed to begin their home schedule on Nov. 21 against Fresno Pacific.
Despite the recent losses to No. 19 Regis (91-78) and Cal State Los Angeles (94-83), Stan State is confident it will compete in the California Collegiate Athletic Association.
The Warriors are averaging 22 3-point attampts, making seven per game. Stanislaus has averaged 77.8 points per game, the sixth most in the conference.
The last time a Warriors team averaged more than 75 points a game was in 2007-08 (75.1). Three players account for 64 percent of the offense – newcomer Vasilije Saraba averages 17.8 points per game, junior guard Ty Davis 17 points and senior shooting guard Andy Cleaves 15. All three are among the top-10 scorers in the CCAA.
The Warriors recently came off a stretch of five road games in eight days (including an exhibition game at Pacific). That trip was capped back-to-back contest in Denver. The Warriors beat a regional tournament qualifier, Metro State, in overtime before the hard-fought setback to No. 19 Regis.
Last Saturday, in the CCAA opener, the Warriors lost at CSLA where the Golden Eagles had their best shooting night of the year. They shot 53 percent for the game and 58 percent in the first half in the 94-83 win. After hosting Sonoma State on Thursday, the Warriors take on Cal Poly Pomona, ranked No. 6 in the latest NABC Division II Top 25 poll, on Saturday.
Women’s Team Look Forward to Better Days at the Fitz
Road games have been tough for the rebuilding Stan State women’s basketball team.
The Warriors are looking forward to playing at The Fitz in hopes of better results against conference foes Sonoma State (Thursday) and Cal Poly Pomona (Saturday).
Both games are at 5:30 p.m. on the Turlock campus. In three games — they had two games in Belmont canceled due to the poor air quality — the Warriors have lost by an average of 28 points.
They have allowed 80 or more points each time and topped out at 60 points on offense. However, the losses were against two of the top teams in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference and an undefeated CSLA.
Lizzy Alexander (Stockton/Weston Ranch HS) has been the bright spot so far, averaging 16 points per game, third best in the CCAA. She’s also made 10 of the team’s 20 3-pointers at an efficient pace (10 for 21).
This story was originally published November 27, 2018 at 5:23 PM with the headline "Warrior Weekly: Home sweet home for hoop teams as Sonoma State, Pomona pay visits."