CHICO – The SF State men's basketball team fell victim to an impressive three point shooting performance displayed by Azusa Pacific Friday night at Acker Gym in the opening matchup of the 55^th Carl's Jr. Mac Martin Invitational.

The three point line was not kind all night to the Gators (1-2).  From behind the arc SF State shot just 5-for-22 on the evening, including 2-for-11 in the first half.  The Cougars (5-1) on the other hand were red-hot from distance, shooting 42.3 percent going 11-for-26.

Leading Azusa Pacific in the three point attack was Kevin Stafford who scored a game-high 15 points, going 5-for-7 from deep. 

The Gators offense was led by Andre Jones who scored nine points, five of which came after the intermission.  The Gators did not have anyone in double figures on the evening but did have nine players score at least one bucket in an impressive display of balance.  Senior Bren Haley had a strong night scoring eight points with eight assists and no turnovers, all season-highs.

To begin the game the Gators scored first but the Cougars scored nine unanswered to take a 9-2 lead forcing the Gators to call a quick timeout to regroup.  Following a media timeout the Gators went on a run of their own and cut the Gators lead to one, 18-17 with 10:53 in the opening half when Haley hit a three from the top of the key.

That was as close as the Gators would get the rest of the game, Azusa Pacific went on a 9-0 run hitting three consecutive threes all by Stafford. 

At the intermission SF State trailed by 10, a deficit they would not be able to whittle down.  Out of the break the Gators shot 35.7 percent going 10-for-28 unfortunately they could not overcome the early foul trouble from the first half and the hot shooting for the Cougars in the second.

Azusa Pacific game out of the break shooting at a 48.1 percent clip, going 13-for-27 and was 13-for-16 from the charity stripe.

After a layup by Derrick Brown cut the deficit to eight, 38-30, the Cougars went on a 15-5 run to take an 18 point lead.  A pair of Cougar free throws with 1:03 in the game gave Azusa Pacific their largest lead of the night going up 26, 79-53.

SF State will return to action tomorrow night at 5:30 p.m. when they take on Dominican to wrap up tournament action. 

Complete Box Score (HTML)

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Gator Athletics has a proud tradition of competitive success within the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The department offers 12 intercollegiate sports programs: Baseball, Men's and Women's Basketball, Men's and Women's Cross Country, Men's and Women's Soccer, Softball, Women's Track & Field, Women's Volleyball and Men's Wrestling.

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