CSM men’s hoops back after a 36-year hiatus

CSM fell 77-74 in last Friday’s opener, closing a 13-point halftime deficit to make it close down the stretch. Freshman guard Bobby Arenas (Riordan-SF) turned in a sharp debut, totaling team-highs with 16 points, seven rebounds and three steals while adding three assists.

“Our guys just kept fighting,” Bulldogs head coach Mike Marcial said. “That’s the thing, I’m just really proud of our guys for fighting as we’re establishing our team, and establishing our culture. And I think our guys did that over the course of the Santa Rosa game.”

The Bulldogs went on to fall Saturday 86-67 against Yuba College and again Sunday 81-71 to Mt. San Antonio College. Freshman guard Jackie Luong (Washington-SF) averaged 17.3 points per game through the three losses, including a season-high 19 points Saturday.

Freshman guard Daniel Benjamin (Jefferson) started all three games averaging 5.7 ppg. But Sunday, he enjoyed an all-around showing with eight rebounds, six assists and two steals. Benjamin’s presence is significant as he is the only holdover to be recruited by CSM before Marcial took over the program in 2018.

“I think he understood the benefit of sitting out a year and trying to develop his game,” Marcial said. “He did put in a good amount of work last fall. He’s a strong young man. … He competes every night defensively. He is just consistently giving a great effort.”

Marcial took one full season to assemble his 14-man roster. The 2018-19 season was spent recruiting. He initially had four players in 2018: Benjamin, Taran Singh (James Logan-Union City), David Peterson (Fremont-Oakland) and Dillon Macaraig (Serra).

It was a lonely practice gym initially for the quartet, who spent those first several months practicing individual skill sets — ball handling and shooting — while Marcial was quite busy making the rounds on the high school circuit recruiting players.

The way he sold a program that didn’t yet formally exist?

“Trying to sell a program that didn’t have a history or a team. … I was bringing kids on campus to just sell them on a vision,” Marcial said.

This approach seems to have been successful. CSM had as many as 16 players competing for roster spots over the summer. Marcial said he ultimately had to make two cuts.

Still, the weekend tourney at CCSF had a touch of nostalgia for Marcial, who recognized the core four players each getting playing time was a victory in and of itself.

“It was good to see the four of them on the floor,” Marcial said.

CSM suffered some bumps and bruises through opening weekend.

Freshman forward Reynaldo Phillips bumped heads with a Yuba player while chasing a loose ball Saturday night and had to come out of the game. Marcial said Phillips could return for Thursday’s opening game at the Chabot College Tournament against Alameda.

Irnes Sarvan (Santa Clara), a 6-8 freshman center, came off the floor in the opening minutes Sunday due to back spasms.

“We were definitely lacking in size once he came out of the game,” Marcial said.

A native of Clovis, Marcial has a wealth of experience at the community college level. He was a Central Valley Conference MVP point guard for a Fresno City team that captured a state championship. He went on to play at Sacramento State, then immediately went into coaching as an assistant at Lassen College in 2011-12. He went on to coach at Fresno City before spending four years at the NAIA program of Bellevue University in Nebraska, where he was promoted to associate head coach for two seasons.

As for when the first win comes, Marcial said he isn’t thinking that far ahead.

“Whatever happens after that is what happens,” Marcial said. “I’m not going to look into wins and losses. We’re just going to make sure we’re getting better and heading in a positive direction every single day.”