SAN FRANCISCO – The San Francisco State men's basketball team had their seven-game winning streak snapped on Friday night at the hands of Concordia (Calif.), 82-61, in the SF State Invitational at the Main Gymnasium. The Gators were plagued by cold shooting in the second half, hitting just 8 out of 29 field goals (27.6 percent) to drop to 7-1 on the season. Meanwhile the Eagles, ranked fourth nationally in the NAIA entering the contest, improve to the identical 7-1 mark with the victory.
“We ran into an outstanding team tonight in Concordia,” said SF State head coach Bill Treseler. Obviously, the first eight or so minutes of the second half was a struggle to score. But, it is important that we take some things away from this loss and bounce back strong on Saturday (against the Academy of Art).”
The two teams battled to a 37-37 deadlock by the end of the first half, with neither side enjoying a lead of more than six points. Concordia opened up its biggest advantage of the period at 20-15 after a tip-in by Phil Friesen at the 8:29 mark. However, the Gators' transition game came to life at the juncture as the home team converted three consecutive layups as part of an 8-0 run, putting SF State up, 23-20.
The Eagles answered with a 3-point basket by Kingsley Costain before the Gators reeled off six straight points, including a layup by senior
Alex Thomas (Vallejo, California, Hogan, Dominican University), giving them a 29-23 cushion with 4:28 left before intermission. After Concordia battled back to within 31-29, SF State reclaimed a six-point bulge at 35-29 on a put-back by senior
Brad Visman off a free-throw miss by fellow classmate
Darryl Robinson (San Mateo, California, San Mateo, Canada College) with 2:20 left on the clock. However, the Eagles closed out the half with an 8-2 run, which knotted things up at the break.
The deadlock on the scoreboard did not foreshadow the impending malaise in the second half as the Gators were held without a field goal until 8:52 had elapsed on the clock. SF State connected on just two free throws during that span as a trey by Friesen put Concordia in control, 54-39, at the 11:27 mark. A Thomas layup broke the drought moments later, while a triple by sophomore
Robert Hayes (San Diego, California, St. Augustine's) brought the home team back to within eight at 57-49 with 8:23 remaining in the contest. That would be as close as the Gators would get, however, as the Eagles proved to be too much down the stretch.
Individually, Hayes tossed in a game-high 20 points, while Thomas tallied 15 on 6-of-10 shooting. Concordia had four players in double figures, led by Costain's 19 points, while Tyler Gottstein posted a double-double with 13 points a game-best 14 rebounds.
The Gators wrap up play at the SF State Invitational on Saturday when they tangle with the Academy of Art University, starting at 7:30 p.m. in the Main Gym.
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