SEASIDE, Calif. – SF State men's basketball team rallied from 9-point halftime deficit to come back and defeat the Cal State Monterey Bay Otters in both team's conference opener. Six Gators scored in double digits led by Nefi Perdomo (Oakland, California, Skyline ) with 18 points while Phoenix O'Rourke (San Mateo, California, Junipero Serra) chipped in 14 points.

“It was a tale of two halves this evening,” said SF State head coach Paul Trevor. “I don't know what team that was in the first half,” added Trevor. “I am proud of how we bounced back after the break, we played with more passion and energy during the second stanza.” “Marquel (Hoskins) and Nefi (Perdomo) led the charge in the second half while Phoenix (O'Rourke) carried us in the first half with his shooting.”

The first half was evenly played until the 6:23 mark when Ian Hosford capped a 6-0 run by the Otters (1-1, 0-1 CCAA) as the hosts took a 31-25 lead. Cal State Monterey Bay increased that lead to 12 (43-31) with 1:42 to go in the half on a three by Darroll Phillips. A lay-up by Winston Demmin cut the Otter lead to 45-36 heading into the locker room.

The Otters shot 48% from the field in the first half and were a perfect 6 of 6 from three-point land and also connected on 13 of their 16 attempts from the charity stripe.

The Gators came out strong in the second half as they scored the first 7 points to cut the lead to just 45-43 with 16:03 on the clock. Davion Berry's two free throws gave the Otters a 50-45 lead, but SF State (1-1, 1-0 CCAA) went on a 7-2 run capped by a Ralph Nevarez (West Covina, California, West Covina)jumper to tie the game at 52 all.

SF State built a 59-55 lead with a little under nine minutes to go on a Nevarez lay-up, but the Otters came back and took a 62-61 lead on a made free throw by Derrick Anderson with 6:42 left on the clock.

Anderson increased the Otters' lead to 68-64 on a three, SF State retook the lead (73-71) on a three by Tim Pratt (Eureka, California, College of the Redwoods) with 1:19 to go in the game. Cal State Monterey Bay cut the lead twice to just one in the final seconds, but Marquel Hoskins went 3 of 4 from the line down the stretch as the Gators held on for the 78-75 victory.

Besides Perdomo's 18 points and O'Rourke's 14 points, four Gators each scored 10 points in Tim Pratt, Ralph Nevarez, Marquel Hoskins, and Winston Demmin (Brooklyn, New York, Reedley College). Davion Berry led the Otters with 25 points.

SF State shot 48% from the field for the game including 50% in the second half while held the Otters to just 40% from the field including 31% in the second half.

The Gators will return to the court this weekend in Belmont, Calif., as they participate in the 4th Annual NDNU Thanksgiving Classic. They will take on Simon Fraser this Friday and Notre Dame de Namur this Saturday, both games starting at 5pm. 

Box Score