College of San Mateo men's basketball team close out 2021 with a bang

Both teams come into the final game of 2021 with offenses that rank in the top-5 in the state. CSM comes into the game averaging 89.6 points per game, good for third in the state. Columbia isn’t far behind, averaging 88.8.

“We would definitely like to push tempo. We want stops on defense, but even if they’re able to score, we want to get the ball out and push the tempo,” said CSM head coach Mike Marcial. “We have a lot of guys who can run up and down the court.”

The Bulldogs have been doing just that to great effectiveness so far this season, as the have compiled an 11-2 mark through non-conference play.

One of those losses came to Columbia, which at 12-0 is the only undefeated team left in the state. The Bulldogs and Claim Jumpers faced off at the Cabrillo tournament Dec. 4, with Columbia coming away with an 88-77 win.

The two teams were originally supposed to meet in a non-conference game Dec. 11, but COVID postponed that game to Friday and the previous meeting will only help the Bulldogs.

“I thought they did a great job of making us work on the defensive end. They got some open 3s and it didn’t allow us to get in transition,” Marcial said of the early-December meeting.

“We shot the ball well from 3, but they did a great job defending shots at the rim,” Marcial continued. “[Friday] we want to try to get more shots at the rim.”

While disappointed with the loss, Marcial said some good came out of the loss: namely, the Bulldogs discovered their 3-point shooting stroke.

“I thought it was one of the first games we started shooting the 3 well,” Marcial said. “That was one of the positives from that game. [We] started punching it down from 3. We’ve really experienced some good 3-point shooting since then.”

So how has CSM, in just its second season following a 36-year hiatus, find itself with an 11-2 record and a top-20 ranking in the state heading into Coast Conference play?

A lot of pressure and a lot of depth. Marcial said he utilizes a full-court press and is constantly rotating players in and out to keep them fresh. As a result, the Bulldogs have a slew of players averaging six points or more per game.

CSM does have a couple of key players to shoulder a bulk of the scoring load. Former Aragon product Sam Manu, a sophomore wing, leads the team with 15.3 points a game. Guard Bobby Arenas, a sophomore from Riordan, is right behind with 14.9.

“[Manu] is probably our best penetrator with the ball. … Very strong. Very athletic. … He’s exceeding my expectations,” Marcial said. “I call Bobby Arenas my Swiss army knife. He can do everything.”

Marcial said the good thing about his team is the fact that it doesn’t rely on just one or two players. He said he plays nine to 11 players nearly every game and they’re all expected to produce when inserted into the game.

It’s that constantly rotating cast that has contributed to the Bulldogs’ strong start this season.

“We can have multiple guys in double figures any given night. (Our offense is) very free flowing. It could be anybody. Against Folsom Lake, JD Carson (Menlo-Atherton) banged down six 3s,” Marcial said. “It’s hard to scout against. We have a lot of guys who can score the ball.”