Cal Maritime wins third straight, tops La Sierra 61-56

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Cal Maritime will open the season at 3-0 for the first time since the 2017-18 season thanks to its 61-56 victory at La Sierra, the second time within the first three weeks of the season that the Keelhaulers visited Southern California for a non-conference event and returned home with a win. 

Meeting for the first time since the Golden Eagles left the Cal Pac Conference and joined the Golden State Athletic Conference this past July, the Keelhaulers won four of the last five meetings and 9 of 12 head-to-head contests on LSU's home court.

The Keelhaulers were led by reigning Cal Pac Defensive Player of the Week Nick Stone who dazzled on the offensive half of the court all night long by hitting five of his seven baskets from three to finish with a team- and career-high 19 points. His five threes are another career high and nearly half of the team's total since his other 11 teammates connected from distance six times combined.

Lawrence Long was a handful for La Sierra to deal with as he dominated down low and collected 10 of his team-high 13 rebounds after halftime. As with Stone's threes, Long's rebound total is a career-best effort.

Luka Popovic added 11 points and the current Cal Pac Offensive Player of the Week, Jordan Morency, enjoyed a well-rounded game by finishing with nine points, five rebounds and two assists.

Trailing 8-4 five minutes after the opening tip-off, threes from Stone and Chiron Pham gave Cal Maritime the lead for all but 14 seconds: following a jumper and a pair of free throws made by La Sierra on consecutive possessions, another three from Cal Maritime, this time by Ivan Soto, gave it the lead for good.

The Keelhaulers only took three free throws and connected on two of those attempts vs. La Sierra's 8-for 15 shooting at the stripe. Cal Maritime's defense stifled the Golden Eagles from three as they only hit 2 of 11 shots compared to 11-for-35 shooting from the visitors.

Cal Maritime will make its third, and final trip to Southern California before league play commences in mid-January when it visits Anaheim for a 5 p.m. matchup at Bethesda.