SAN FRANCISCO – Nefi Perdomo scored a season-high 27 points as the San Francisco State men's basketball team regained a share of first place in the conference standings, knocking off Cal State Monterey Bay, 81-58, in a physical California Collegiate Athletic Association game Tuesday night inside the Main Gymnasium.
The Gators (7-3, 5-1 CCAA) also received double-digit scoring totals from
Jamari Simmons, who tallied a season-best 12 points on 4-for-8 shooting from beyond the 3-point arc, while
Marquel Hoskins added 11 points to go along with eight rebounds and a game-high four assists.
“We got back to our roots and defended with great tenacity tonight,” said SF State head coach
Paul Trevor. “Our bench also stepped up big in the first half when we got some early fouls.”
The Gators limited CSUMB to a 29.1 field-goal percentage for the evening on 16-of-55 shooting and forced 24 turnovers, including 11 steals. Although SF State connected on just 28 of 70 shots from the field (40 percent), the Purple and Gold outscored the Otters 27-8 off turnovers and 30-14 in the paint.
Meanwhile, Davion Berry finished with 25 points and Ian Hosford grabbed a game-high nine rebounds for CSUMB, which was unable to avoid a season sweep at the hands of the Gators after losing in Seaside, 78-75, on Nov. 21.
SF State, which never trailed in the contest, raced an 11-0 lead with just 2:36 elapsed on the clock, highlighted by
Phoenix O'Rourke's 3-pointer and back-to-back jumpers by Hoskins. The Otters remained in contention, however, trimming the deficit to three a 26-23 following a James Albert free throw with 6:55 to go before intermission.
What little momentum CSUMB generated was not sustained as Perdomo's layup on the ensuing possession sparked a 14-7 surge, which put the Gators up 40-30 at halftime.
SF State shifted into overdrive in the second stanza as
Winston Demmin's old-fashioned three-point play at the 13:26 mark put the host school up 57-37 and the rout was on.
The Otters managed to trim the deficit to 63-49 on a Berry bucket with 8:24 remaining, but could draw no closer as Hoskins converted a three-point play of his own on the next foray up the court, while Perdomo quickly followed with a trey from behind the arc to extinguish the last CSUMB threat.
Another three-point play by
Max Fodor provided the Gators their largest lead of the night at 81-54 with 2:50 to play before the Otters sank four free throws in the waning seconds to account for the final score.
SF State resumes its three-game homestand this weekend, Jan. 7-8, when it welcomes to CCAA adversaries Cal State Dominguez Hills and Cal. State L.A. on consecutive nights in the Main Gym. Tip-off for both contests is slated for 7:30 p.m.
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