SAN FRANCISCO – Winston Demmin scored a game-high 15 points and Nefi Perdomo sank two critical free throws with 30 seconds left  to propel the San Francisco State men's basketball team to a hard-fought 58-55 victory over Sonoma State on Saturday night in the Main Gymnasium.

 

With the win, the Gators upped their record to 15-9 on the season and 13-7 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association, while the Seawolves slip to 9-15 overall and 7-13 in conference play.

 

“Our defense stepped up big-time tonight,” said SF State head coach Paul Trevor. “Winston was phenomenal on the glass as he and Matt Fochtman played extremely well off the bench.”

 

Demmin finished with a 6-for-11 effort from the floor and pulled down a season-best nine rebounds, while Fochtman tied a season high with 11 points of his own—a figure matched by Marquel Hoskins, who added five assists and three steals.

 

The Gators limited SSU to a 36.2 field-goal percentage for the game on 17 of 47 attempts and maintained a 28-12 advantage in the paint. SF State also benefited from an off-night at the free-throw line by the Seawolves, who converted just 15 of 24 foul shots (62.5 pct.), while the host school drained 8 of 9 tries from the charity stripe.

 

The two teams combined for just 14 field goals in a low-scoring first half that witnessed four ties and three lead changes. The Gators opened up their biggest advantage of the period at 15-11 on a Daniel Trammel jumper at the 6:23 mark. However, SSU crafted a 10-2 run over the next 5:32 to grab a 21-17 lead, until Chad Delaney trimmed the deficit on a layup with 20 seconds remaining to account for the 21-19 halftime score.

 

SF State picked up the tempo in the second half, shooting 16-for-28 from the field (57.1 pct.), including 3-pointers by Hoskins and Phoenix O'Rourke. Following a triple by SSU's Ben Washington, the Gators went ahead to stay at 28-27 on Fochtman's tip-in at the 16:38 mark.

 

The Gators eventually stretched the margin to seven at 44-37 following a Demmin jumper off an O'Rourke assist with 8:01 to go. However, the Seawolves remained in striking distance as a Patrick Scott jumper pulled the visitors to within 49-48 with 4:21 remaining.

 

After both sides misfired on the ensuing two possessions, Hoskins banked home a clutch 3-pointer at the 3:26 mark to give SF State some breathing room at 52-48. Two minutes later, the Gator senior came up huge once again, corralling his own missed layup and converting the put-back to provide the hosts another four-point cushion at 56-52 with 1:14 to play.

 

However, SSU's Steven Pratt drained a triple from well beyond the arc at the top of the key to tighten the score at 56-55 with 41 seconds remaining. Perdomo was then sent to the free-throw line and calmly nailed the two pressure shots, putting the Purple and Gold up 58-55 with 30 ticks on the clock.

 

The Seawolves played for one last shot, but this time Pratt's 3-pointer from the left wing was too strong as O'Rourke gathered the rebound at the horn. SSU was led by Scott's 13 points, while Pratt and Matthew French added 10 apiece.

 

SF State remains in third place in the CCAA standings, one-half game ahead of Cal State San Bernardino, heading into the final two games of the regular season. The Gators will tackle Cal State Stanislaus (Feb. 24) and Chico State (Feb. 25) at home on consecutive nights next week, with both games scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.

 

“I'm very excited about where we stand in the conference race,” Trevor added. “We're getting better as a team and our young guys are starting to grow.”