Men's Basketball Bounces Back From First Loss

Cal Maritime (5-1) got their hands into the passing lanes to force 26 turnovers, and five Keelhaulers scored in double figures lead by Josh Hauser (SO/Thousand Oaks, Ca)'s 25 points in an 85-80 victory over the Northwest University Eagles (4-3).

The Keelhaulers were coming off a loss to Menlo in game one of the Cal Maritime tournament where they did not match the intensity of the Oaks. In game two on Saturday they were hoping to rebound and learn some lessons from that double-digit loss where the defense faltered in the final six minutes.

Cal Maritime showed they were not going to allow history to repeat itself and did enough to earn the victory despite allowing the Eagles to shoot 55% from the field. The Keelhaulers got to the line by being aggressive offensively, and hit big shots at critical moments while forcing turnovers.

"I felt like we responded to adversity by coming together and doing whatever was needed to come out with a win," Head Coach Brendan Rooney said. "We had guys grab rebounds, make the extra pass, and hit big shots. It was a total team effort."

Hauser shot 10 of 17 from the field including 4 of 8 beyond the three-point line, and had 18 of his points in the first half. Phil Randles (SR/Fresno, CA) finished with 15 points while going 4-10 from three-point range. Mike Meserole (SR/Galt, CA), Brayden Morse (SR/Long Beach, CA), and Zavier Lucero (FR/Vallejo, Ca) all had 12 points on the night for Cal Maritime. Lucero added 10 rebounds as well for the second double-double of his career in six games.

Lucero got the scoring started when he grabbed a defensive rebound, and then hit a three pointer at the top of the key. The 6'8" Jasdeep Singh posed matchups problems for the Keelhaulers defensively as he was the Eagles main scorer early on, but Meserole was able to use his quickness to his advantage to answer Singh's inside-out game in the matchup.

A Randles three pointer gave Maritime a 16-15 lead with 14 min left in first half, but then the offense went quiet for a bit. The Keelhaules just couldn't get shots to fall, exemplified by three pointers that rattled in and out from Evan Madill (SO/Wallace, CA) and Kaden Young (SO/Simi Valley, Ca).

They had looks inside too that just wouldn't go before Hauser tied it at 25 apiece with 7:20 to go first half, only to have Singh answer and reclaim the lead for the Eagles. Lucero came up with loose ball on the offensive end to score, and a Hauser steal lead to a Lucero for layup and foul and a three-point play. Each side in fact would have buckets with a foul on back-to-back possessions.

Hauser then hit back-to-back threes with three and half minutes left in first half. The sophomore guard thought he had buzzer-beater from beyond half court before the half, but it was waved off as the clock inadvertently stopped before the inbound. Maritime still went into the half leading 44-41 despite the shot getting waved off.

In the second half five straight points from Phil Randles started things off, followed by a Hauser bucket and another Randles three that put the Keelhaulers up by 10 for the first time.

The Eagles would not go down without a fight however, especially Christian Hakilimali who cut it to a two-point Cal Maritime lead with 9:50 left. He'd tie the game up with 4:39 left at 73 apiece on his way to a 25-point night.

Another Randles three made it 76-73 with 4 minutes left, and the Keelhaulers would hang onto the lead by hitting their free throws late in the game to seal the victory. It was the first time Cal Maritime had beaten Northwest University in four meetings.

UP NEXT: The Keelhaulers will look to avenge their only loss of the season when they go to Menlo for a rematch Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m.