Sonoma State Star

Issue date: 3/11/08 Section: Sports

The Seawolves have to address their struggling offense in the off season. [Click to enlarge]

The men's basketball season ended earlier than the team would have liked. The disappointing season saw the Seawolves go 11-15, not qualifying them for a trip to the CCAA Tournament. While the Seawolves did not reach their goal of making the tournament, they did have some memorable highlights during the season.

They started the season on the right foot by going 5-1 through their first six games, beating strong opponents in Chaminade and Humboldt State during the run. The Seawolves also had a key victory against rival Cal State Dominguez Hills during the stretch.

"The biggest win of the season was our first road game in November," said freshman guard Jay Flores. "We beat Dominguez Hills at Dominguez Hills. That was one of our best games all year. It was a big win."

After defeating Notre Dame de Namur on Jan. 8 at home to finish the solid start at 5-1, the Seawolves started to slide and could never quite make the bleeding stop going 6-14 through their last 20 games.

One significant reason for the team's poor play during the stretch run was their inability to win on the road, winning just two games away from Rohnert Park all season.

"All of our games were on back-to-back nights," said Flores. "It's hard to go on the road and win. When your traveling it makes it tough."

Captain and star shooting guard Andrew Kochevar, the Seawolves only senior on the team, broke a number of records in his final season in a Seawolves uniform. Kochevar became the record holder for free throw percentage (.833), three pointers made (214), and three-point percentage (.441). Kochevar was voted to the second team All-CCAA for his individual accomplishments.

"He was the heart and soul of the team," said junior forward Steve Cornett. "He was the leader of the team. He held us together. He was the best shooter I've ever played with."

Teams around the league were all well aware of Kochevar's shooting talents and as a result, Kochevar was a marked man. Closely guarded every game and sometimes double-teamed when the ball was in his hands, Kochevar's shots did not come easy. With Kochevar unable to put up quality shots, the younger players on the team were put in a tough spot. "Sometimes we had trouble scoring points," said Flores. "We would go through spurts where we couldn't score when we needed to."

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