ROHNERT PARK, Calif. – The San Francisco State men's basketball team built a 12-point halftime lead and then snuffed out a frantic Sonoma State rally, holding on for a 73-66 victory Thursday in a California Collegiate Athletic Association game at the Wolves' Den.
Nefi Perdomo recorded a game-high 22 points, featuring a career-best six 3-pointers, while Marquel Hoskins scored a season-high 20 to go along with six assists as the Gators (8-5, 6-3 CCAA) snapped a two-game losing streak. In addition, Phoenix O'Rourke came up big defensively with a career-best five steals, while Tim Pratt pulled down seven rebounds.
“We just beat a very good basketball team,” said SF State head coach Paul Trevor. “We got great contributions off the bench from Daniel Trammel, Winston Demmin and Tyler Brown.”
Despite draining more free throws (20-13) and maintaining a slight rebounding edge (33-32), the Seawolves (5-8, 3-6 CCAA) committed a season-high 19 turnovers in the loss and were outscored 30-23 in the paint. Will Olsem paced SSU with 15 points off the bench, while Matthew French and Steven Pratt finished with 13 apiece.
The Gators connected on 15 of 29 field-goal attempts in the first half (51.7 percent) as Perdomo went 6-for-10 from the floor, including a 5-for-6 effort from 3-point territory.
Trailing 5-4, SF State took the lead for good on Trammel's triple at the 13:23 mark of the first half. Shortly thereafter, a Perdomo layup put the visitors up 16-9 with 9:37 left; however, the Seawolves promptly scored six straight to pull within 16-15, sparked by Steven Pratt's four-point play.
The two sides remained close for the next three minutes as a Sterling Arterberry free throw brought the host school to within 22-20 at the 5:54 mark. Perdomo subsequently gave the Gators some breathing room, drilling consecutive treys to ignite an 18-8 run as the visitors enjoyed a 40-28 advantage heading into the locker room.
The lead ballooned to 16 following intermission as Demmin's fast-break dunk off an O'Rourke steal put SF State on top 47-31 with 16:31 left to play. However, SSU would not fade into the Gators' rear-view mirror as a French foul shot capped a 19-7 run, pulling the hosts to within 54-50 by the 12:33 mark. After connecting on a layup, Perdomo fouled out, but the Seawolves make just one free throw, while Brown added a jumper to give a SF State a 58-51 cushion with 9:23 remaining.
SSU threatened once again with a 12-6 spurt as Olsem sank one of two shots from the charity stripe to narrow the gap to 64-63 with 3:17 left on the clock. However on the ensuing possession, O'Rourke was fouled on a 3-point attempt and promptly delivered all three free throws. After the Seawolves missed a triple of their own, a Hoskins jumper with 2:02 left provided the Gators a 69-63 cushion.
A foul shot by Patrick Scott and another two by Steven Pratt made it a one-possession game at 69-66 with 38 ticks left on the clock, but Demmin and Hoskins came up big in the clutch as both players sank two shots each from the charity stripe in the remaining time to cement the hard-fought victory for SF State.
“I am very proud of our guys,” coach Trevor added. “We are learning how to win games.”
The Gators will head north to Arcata, Calif., on Saturday for another CCAA tilt with Humboldt State beginning at 7:30 p.m. The Lumberjacks (12-1, 9-1 CCAA) routed Cal State Monterey Bay 94-66 on Thursday.
Box Score
