The Stanford Cardinal opened the 2010-11 campaign on Wednesday evening by
taking on the California State University Monterey Bay Otters in their sole
exhibition game of the year. While the Division II squad hung around for
most of the contest, they never really threatened to upset Stanford as the
Cardinal finished the contest on a 24-5 run to win by a final score of
87-56.
Jeremy Green helped the home team race out to an 11-2 advantage, hitting two
three-pointers from the left side of the arc in the game’s first 4:04 before
CSUMB cut the lead down to five, 13-8, after a long ball by Darroll
Phillips. Stanford would then run off eight in a row, highlighted by
freshman Dwight Powell’s drive from the top-of-the-key straight down the lane
for the pretty layup, to go up 21-8 with 10:31 left in the first half. The
Cardinal lead extended to 21, 34-13, before a 13-3 spurt by the Otters cut the
lead back down to 11 with 2:21 remaining. A turnover on Monterey Bay’s
next possession led to a Jack Trotter dunk, then some great defense at
half-court resulted in another turnover with eight ticks left on the first half
clock. Green would not be denied on the ensuing possession, draining a
28-footer from the right wing at the buzzer, sending the crowd into a frenzy as
the home team headed into the locker room up by 16, 42-26.
Stanford opened up the second half trying to put away the visitors and a
thunderous slam dunk by Josh Owens down the right side of the paint sent them
towards that goal, pushing the lead to 48-30 with 16:26 left. However, the
Otters weren’t so easy to put away as they continued to get heady play from
guard Davion Berry and forward Ian Hosford. The duo filled up the stat
sheet for the visitors while keeping the Cardinal within striking distance for
the better part of the second half. Their play, along with missed
opportunities from Stanford, allowed CSUMB to get to as close as 12, 63-51, with
just over eight minutes to go in the contest. Fortunately for the
Cardinal, their depth began to wear down the Otters, as buckets and free throws
from Owens, Green, and Jarrett Mann keyed a 12-0 dash (including a six-point
possession) that finally ended CSUMB’s chances at pulling off the upset in front
of a somewhat sizeable contingent of fans who made the trip to the Farm.
Powell ended the scoring on the night with a steal near midcourt and a
thunderous jam to put an exclamation point on the Cardinal’s final run with just
over a minute remaining in the game.
Stanford finished the game shooting 43% for the game, including 50% from
inside the arc, 27% outside the three-point line, and 63% (19-30) at the charity
stripe. Cal State Monterey Bay shot 31% for the contest, notching the same
percentage from both inside and outside the arc, while making 83% (10-12) from
the free throw line. The Cardinal outrebounded the Otters 59-32, including
24-9 on the offensive side of the glass. The home side completed the game
with 10 assists, 11 turnovers, and three blocks, while the visitors finished the
contest with seven assists, 15 turnovers, and just one block.
The Cardinal were led by Green’s 26 points on 10-17 shooting. He was
followed by Owens’ 16 points and 11 rebounds, Powell’s 10 and Jack Trotter’s
eight points off the bench. CSUMB was led by Berry’s 20-point effort on
6-13 shooting and Hosford’s nine off the pine.
Stanford opens up the regular season on Monday night versus the University of
San Diego at 7:00pm at Maples Pavilion.
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