The Sonoma State Men’s Basketball season came to a close this past week after being eliminated from the CCAA (California Collegiate Athletic Association) tournament. Despite the loss, the team had plenty to be proud of after such a successful season that included a Conference Player of the Year Award for Jaylen Wells and a CCAA Honorable Mention for Austin Fadal.

Teammates Wells and Fadal both have had incredible success this year. Wells was selected for the All-CCAA First Team alongside his Player of the Year award. This is only the second time in program history that a student-athlete has earned the Player of the Year honor. Wells said, “It’s an honor to be able to be presented with this award. It’s a blessing to see that the hard work I’ve put in the off-season is paying off. This wouldn’t be possible without my coaches and teammates believing in me.” Wells was the conference’s leading scorer this year averaging 22 points a game, he was second in the conference for rebounds with 8.6 boards while shooting 52 percent from the field and 86 percent from the line. He also totaled 45 steals during the regular season. Wells added, “Winning this award only makes me hungrier and more focused. Individual awards don’t satisfy me, team awards like championships do.”

Fadal averaged 12 points per game, shooting 45 percent from the field and 78 percent from the line earning himself a CCAA honorable mention. “It’s going to make me work even harder, I have goals that I want to achieve and I’m going to work to make sure I’m taking the right steps to achieving them. It’s going to be a great off-season of work,” Fadal said.

On Thursday, March 2, Sonoma State, No. 5 seed, faced off against Cal Poly Humboldt, No. 4 seed, and managed to outscore them 73-57, despite being down at the half 30-29. Jaylen Wells led all student-athletes with 29 points but had help as three of his teammates scored in the double-digits. Austin Fadal had 13 points and matched Wells with nine rebounds. Nick Medeiros added 11 points while Nick Klarman chipped in with 10.

After the first-round win, Sonoma State went on to play Cal State San Bernardino, the No. 1 seed, on Friday, March 3. The Seawolves were defeated 93-66 to set up the rematch of the 2022 championship game vs. Cal State San Marcos. The Yotes scored early on, opening on a 16-6 run, leading them to finish the half 45-26. The Seawolves weren’t counted out just yet, posting a 10-2 run cutting the deficit down to 11 but then CSUSB hit another scoring run leading to their victory. Sonoma closes out its season with a 13-18 record, but have plenty to show for.

Coming back from last place in the 2021-2022 season, Head Coach Rich Shayewitz and his team fought hard to get to the playoffs this year. Predicted to finish twelfth in the conference, the Seawolves started slow with six losses. Turning it around after winter break is what earned them their spot as the number five seed, ending the regular season with a record of 11-11.

With nine new players added to this year’s roster, coach Shayewitz knew it was going to be a transition but had belief in his crew. This year the players have been a high-percentage shooting team and excelling in free throws. Outside of the stat books, Shayewitz said that the group’s “togetherness” boosted up the rough times. “There’s a lot of pride and there’s a lot of belief in the locker room in one another every night on the floor.”