SAN FRANCISCO – The San Francisco State men's basketball team outscored visiting UC San Diego 33-23 in the second half to pull away for a 61-50 victory Friday night in a key California Collegiate Athletic Association showdown in the Main Gymnasium.
The Gators (16-11, 9-10 CCAA) had three players surpass the double-digit plateau in scoring, led by Tim Pratt (Eureka, Calif., College of the Redwoods), who finished with 12 points, while Marquel Hoskins (Beloit, Wis., Reedley College) and Phoenix O'Rourke (San Mateo, Calif., Junipero Serra HS) chipped in 11 apiece. Hoskins also dished out a game-high seven assists, while O'Rourke drained three 3-pointers to move past Alex Thomas into fifth place on the school's single-season charts with 57 triples. In addition, Derek Fletcher (San Jose, Calif., Branham HS) pulled down a game-best 10 rebounds to vault past Will Logan into fourth place on the school's all-time list with 502 career boards.
Meanwhile, the Tritons (7-15, 6-13 CCAA) were paced by Jordan Lawley's 19 points, while Christian Hatch added 10 in the defeat.
“We were good defensively, particularly in the second half when the game was on the table,” said SF State head coach Bill Treseler. “UCSD plays with great passion and we had to have several guys step up to get this done.”
As a team, the Gators connected on just 41.5 percent of its field goal attempts on 22-of-53 shooting. However, SF State limited the Tritons to a 16-for-43 performance from the floor (37.2 percent) and maintained a 35-28 edge in rebounding and a 24-12 advantage on points in the paint.
The Gators responded to an early 8-4 deficit with a 17-7 flurry, as a 3-pointer by O'Rourke gave the home team a 21-15 bulge at the 5:21 mark. UCSD then clawed its way back into contention, fashioning a 12-4 run to reclaim a 27-25 lead after a pair of Hatch free throws with 53 seconds to go. Then on SF State's next possession, O'Rourke, who scored all of his 11 points in the first half, dialed up from long distance once again, draining a triple with 32 ticks on the clock to account for the 28-27 score at intermission.
After a Pratt jumper put the Gators in front 32-27 at the 18:18 mark of the second half, the Tritons managed to narrow the gap to one at 32-31 after consecutive baskets by Hatch and Lawley. UCSD could not draw any closer the rest of the game, as a 21-12 run capped by a Nefi Perdomo (Oakland, Calif., Skyline HS) 3-pointer, stretched the SF State lead to 10 at 53-43 with exactly five minutes left to play. A Lawley jumper with 3:01 to go trimmed the deficit to single digits for the final time in the contest at 55-47. However on the ensuing possession, O'Rourke passed to Hoskins, who buried a 3-pointer to put the Gators firmly in control at 58-47 with 2:30 remaining.
SF State, which is now in sixth place in the CCAA standings with three games to play, will entertain Cal State East Bay on Saturday in the Main Gym. Prior to the 7:30 opening tip, the Gators will honor their two seniors, Derek Fletcher and Jeremy Francis (San Francisco, Calif., George Washington HS, Mayville State Univ.).
“Everyone wants to send Derek and Jeremy off the right way tomorrow,” concluded coach Treseler. “So we'll have to bring that same focus and energy we had tonight.”
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