Reno, Nev.--- SF State's men's basketball team opened up their 2008-09 exhibition part of their season with a 89-67 loss at the University of Nevada this evening at the Lawlor Events Center in Reno, Nevada. The Wolfpack, who are picked to win the Western Athletic Conference, built a 21-point halftime lead which SF State could not overcome. Senior
Will Logan (Apple Valley, California, Apple Valley) paced the Gators with 17 points on 7 of 14 shooting from the field including 3 of 5 from three-point territory.
“We had some strong stretches and solid individual performances, but we did not compete with enough toughness or intelligence in the first half,” said SF State Head Coach Bill Treseler. “Nevada is a great team---it was a good slap in the face for us and the good news is we have some time to apply what we learned.”
The first nine minutes of the first half went back and forth with the Gators holding a 16-15 lead on a jumper by
Vince Capellino (South Lake Tahoe, California, South Lake Tahoe). Nevada outscored SF State 18-7 in the next seven minutes to take a double digit lead (33-23), a lead the Wolfpack would increase to 21 (46-25) going into the locker room on a three by Lyndale Burleson at the buzzer.
SF State came back in the second half and outscored its host 18-6 in the first seven minutes of the half to cut the Wolfpack lead to 9 (52-43). Nevada came back and built its lead back to 20 (70-50) with eight minutes to go with an 18-7 run of its own. The Wolfpack lead stayed over 20 and they cruised to an 89-67 victory in their only exhibition game of the regular season.
Ryan Wessels (Napa, California, Napa Valley College)chipped in 12 points off the bench for SF State while Joey Shaw led four players in double digits for the Wolfpack. Nevada out-rebounded the Gators 42-29 including grabbing 16 offensive rebounds.
The Gators will have their final exhibition game on Thursday, November 13 at 7pm, when they host the Urban Knights of the Academy of Art University at SF State's Main Gymnasium. They will begin their regular season on November 19 at 8pm, when they host the UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs.
