Cal Maritime 61, William Jessup 60

It was Cal Maritime versus William Jessup last night with the outcome determined just before the buzzer. From the Times Herald:

"The Cal Maritime men’s basketball team defeated William Jessup on the road, 61-60, on a shot by Alec Fetzer at the buzzer.

Trailing by one, the Keelhaulers (8-8) missed a free throw with under 10 seconds left but Zach Davis of Cal Maritime grabbed the offensive rebound and passed the ball to Roman Delgado. Delgado then fed Fetzer under the basket and the junior from St. Helena hit a shot as the horn sounded for the win.

Dominique Barnes led the Keelhaulers with 18 points, while Davis finished with 11. Adam Smith contributed with 10 points."

From Matt Horrocks:

After a four game road trip to finish off 2014, the Warriors rang in the New Year by playing host to a familiar opponent in the reigning California Pacific Conference champions, the California Maritime Academy Keelhaulers. Both teams battled neck and neck, but a connected layup at the final horn sent the Keelhaulers home as victors by the final score of 61-60.

Friday's game got off to a rocky start for the Warriors, as the Keelhaulers started things on a 6-0 run. The Warriors began to claw back at the deficit, and eventually took a 19-18 lead with just under seven minutes remaining in the first half when junior forward Desmond Floyd connected on a jumper.

At the halftime break, the game was neck-and-neck as the Keelhaulers took a 31-30 advantage into the break. The Warriors shot 41-percent from the field in the opening frame, compared to a 42-percent showing by their counterparts.

To start off the second half, the Warriors began to hit on all cylinders, as back-to-back three pointers by sophomore Guillermo Nunez and junior Chris Murry sent the game into the first media timeout of the half with the Warriors trailing just by just three. The Keelhaulers then came out of the stoppage with an 8-0 run to pull away, but a few quick baskets and three successful free throws by junior guard Justin Downer trimmed the deficit back to three.

The game then remained neck-and neck for the greater part of the next ten minutes. With 3:35 left in regulation, Floyd connected for two points for the Warriors to tie the game, but Maritime answered with a three point play to lead 57-54.

With just 1:01 remaining, junior Elijah Lewis went to the line to shoot two free throws. Lewis connected on both free throws to give the Warriors a 60-59 advantage. With just four seconds remaining in regulation, and with the Warriors still up 60-59, the Keelhaulers inbounded the ball on their own offensive end, and found Alec Fetzer who connected on a layup at the buzzer to win the game for Maritime, 61-60.

"Tonight is the first night in the last five games that we were responsible with the basketball. It was also the first time that we shortened the runs that the other team made." said Warrior head coach Lance Von Vogt. "The next step now is to go back to making the critical plays that we use to make down the stretch from here on out."

In his second game of the season, Guillermo Nunez got the starting nod and finished with a team high 13 points to go along with 5 rebounds. Juniors Chris Murry, Elijah Lewis, and Desmond Floyd all scored 12 points respectively for the Warriors in the loss. For Maritime, Dominique Barnes led all players in Friday's game with 18 points.

"My teammates were finding me on the fast break. They all did a very good job finding me tonight." said sophomore guard Guillermo Nunez.

With the loss Friday, the Warriors have now lost their fifth game in a row, and fall to 9-7 on the 2014-15 regular season. California Maritime improved to .500 on the season with Friday's win. They now sit at 8-8.

The Warriors will look to regroup before they take the court next on Tuesday when they play host to GSAC conference foes, Westmont College. Game time is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., immediately following the conclusion of the women's game which is against Westmont as well.

"We just need to play together," said Nunez on what it will take to end the losing streak. "If we trust the process, play as a team, and keep playing hard like we did earlier in the season the wins will start to happen."