TURLOCK, Calif. – Winston Demmin poured in a season-high 22 points as the San Francisco State men's basketball team hung on for a tough 73-68 victory over host Cal State Stanislaus on Saturday at Fitzpatrick Arena.
Coupled with Cal State L.A.'s 69-61 upset loss at home to Sonoma State, the Gators (10-6, 8-4 CCAA) climbed into sole possession of fourth place in conference standings, while the Warriors fall to 6-10 overall and 4-8 in league play.
“This is one of the toughest road trips in the CCAA and we came away with two wins,” said SF State head coach Paul Trevor. “You have to give kudos to Winston Demmin, who played at such a high level this weekend.”
Demmin connected on 6 of 10 field-goal attempts and finished with a 9-for-10 performance from the foul line. The junior transfer from Reedley College also tied for game-high honors with seven rebounds in his first start of the year. The Gators also received double-digit scoring efforts from Nefi Perdomo (13 pts.) and Phoenix O'Rourke (10 pts.), while Marquel Hoskins dished out a game-best four assists.
CSUS was paced by Dwight Jones, who matched Demmin's effort with 22 points of his own, while Evan Scott added 20 on 8-for-8 shooting from the floor.
For the second night in a row, SF State set a season high in free-throw percentage, sinking 22 of 25 foul shots (88.0 pct.), including a 19-for-21 clip in the second half. The Purple and Gold was also clutch from long distance, draining 9 of its 18 attempts from beyond the 3-point arc. The Gators won the turnover battle as well (17-12), outscoring the Warriors 25-15 off those miscues.
CSUS held the lead past the midway point of the first half, until a Demmin jumper put SF State ahead, 16-15, at the 8:19 mark. Six minutes later, another Demmin basket gave the Gators their biggest cushion of the period at 32-24. With 14 seconds left on the clock, Scott converted a three-point play to trim the deficit to three, but Pratt drained a triple that beat the buzzer, making the score 35-29 at intermission.
SF State fashioned a trio of seven-point leads early in the second half, including a 47-40 spread following a Perdomo jumper at the 15:17 mark.
However, the Warriors struck back with a 10-2 run, reclaiming the lead at 50-49 on a Scott 3-pointer with 11:11 remaining. The Gators promptly answered with an 8-0 surge of their own over the next three-plus minutes as Demmin, Hoskins and O'Rourke sank two free throws apiece during that stretch.
CSUS soon closed to within three, but Demmin rattled off six straight points on four free throws and a layup to give SF State its largest lead of the night at 66-57 with three minutes left on the clock.
The pesky Warriors would not go quietly, however, as a Scott layup with 34 seconds remaining capped a 7-0 run, pulling the host school within 66-64.
Stung, the Gators managed to keep their composure as Perdomo, O'Rourke and Demmin each hit a pair of free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
“I am extremely pleased with where we stand right now in the conference race,” Trevor added. “Our guys continue to work hard and develop and I think that bodes well for us as we head into the second half of our CCAA schedule.”
With two steals and two 3-pointers on the night, O'Rourke moved into second place on SF State's all-time charts in both statistical categories. The San Mateo native now has 124 career thefts, six shy of the top spot, while his 148 career treys is 19 short of the school record.
The Gators return home next weekend when they square off against Cal State San Bernardino (Jan. 28) and Cal Poly Pomona (Jan. 29) on successive nights. Tip-off for both games is set for 7:30 p.m.
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