SAN FRANCISCO– The SF State Gators continued its hot start with an 83-74 win over the visiting Holy Names University Hawks this evening at The Swamp at The Don Nasser Family Plaza.  The Gator defense forced 20 turnovers including 12 by steals with four coming from Coley Apsay.  Floyd Wormley had 18 points to pace the victors while Damien Rance added 14 points and Apsay chipped in 13 points.

The Hawks (1-4) took a 9-2 in the first four minutes of the game, but the Gators led by Rance outscored their guests 16-6 in the next three minutes to take an 18-15.  Rance scored 12 of his season high 14 points in the first half as SF State took a 39-35 lead into the locker room.

SF State (4-0) increased its lead in the second half to 47-35 at the 17:10 mark.  Two minutes later a three by Wormley gave the Gators a 54-40 lead off an assist from Brantley Bynum. 
Holy Names would not go away as the Hawks cut the deficit to 59-57 as they went on a 19-3 run capped by a Dante Robinson three.  A jumper by Apsay stopped the Hawk run on the Gators' next possession to give the hosts a 61-57 lead.

The Gators increased their lead to 69-60 on a dunk by Israel Hakim off an assist from Treaven Duffy at the 7:05 mark of the second half.  The Hawks still stayed in the game as they cut the Gator lead to 76-73 on a Joshua Crum lay-up with a little over two minutes left on the clock.

SF State, which is off to its first 4-0 start since 2008-09 when they started 7-0, finished the game on a 8-0 run capped by four made throws by Wormley and Apsay as they hosts took a 84-73 non-conference victory.
The Gators improved to 3-0 against Pac West opponents and more importantly 3-0 against NCAA Division II West Region opponents.  They are also 29-8 at home since the 2012-13 season. 

Dante Robinson led Holy Names with a game high 25 points while Joshua Crum added 23 points for the visitors.  SF State shot 53% from the field while going 15-for-12 from the charity stripe with Apsay and Wormley going a combined 7-for-7. 

Rance had 14 points off the bench with a team high 7 rebounds while Apsay had 13 points also off the bench with three assists and four steals. SF State's bench outscored the Hawks 40-20 and the Gators also scored 31 of their points off of turnovers.

The Gators will return to action this Saturday, November 28 at 3pm, when they take on Academy of Art University in a non-conference contest at Kezar Pavilion in San Francisco.  SF State defeated the Urban Knights 72-53 last week in Rohnert Park.  The Urban Knights are coming off an 81-67 loss at the hands of No. 17 Chico State this evening at home.

Saturday's contest will be the Gators' final non-conference game before they open up conference play on Friday, December 4^th against Chico State.  This game will be part of a men and women's doubleheader against the Wildcats which will also be broadcast live on Comcast Hometown Network Channel 104.  The first 500 SF State students will be given Purple Out 2 t-shirts courtesy of the Department of Athletics at SF State. 

Box Score

Post-Game Video
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