Men's Basketball | 12/1/2015 2:11:00 PM

SAN FRANCISCO– Off to their best start since 2008-09, the SF State Gators will return home this weekend for a pair of home games to begin their conference season.  The 5-0 Gators will host nationally ranked Chico State this Friday, December 4 in the Second Annual Purple Out game.  SF State is 29-8 at The Swamp at The Don Nasser Family Plaza since the 2012-13 season. 

Then this Saturday, December 5, SF State will host Stanislaus State.  Tip-off for Friday's game is set for 7:35pm while Saturday's is 7:30pm, both at The Swamp at The Don Nasser Family Plaza.
The first 500 SF State students with valid SF State student ID in attendance to Friday's game will receive a free Purple Out 2 t-shirt complimentary of the SF State Department of Athletics.  This game will also be part of the conference doubleheader on Friday with Chico State that will be broadcast live on Comcast Hometown Network Channel 104.  The women's game will start at 5:35pm. 

SF State is coming off a 73-72 overtime victory at Academy of Art this past Saturday in Kezar Pavilion in San Francisco.  Coley Apsay scored what proved to be the game-winner off an assist from Floyd Wormley with 65 seconds on the clock.  Wormley finished the game with a team high 15 points while grabbing 7 rebounds, dishing out two assists and recording two steals in the victory.  Apsay finished with 12 points while Israel Hakim also chipped in 12 points and Nick Calcaterrra and Brantley Bynum each scored 11 points for the Gators.

Heading into their conference opener this Friday, the Gators are 5-0 while averaging 77.2 points and 32.2 rebounds per game.  SF State is shooting 47.8% from the field including 35.1% from three-point land and 74.7% from the charity stripe.  The Gator opponents are averaging 69.8 points and 29.6 rebounds per game while shooting 46.3% from the field and 42.1% from three-point land.  SF State also are dishing out 14.8 assists per game while recording 9.8 steals per game and forcing 16.2 turnovers per game. 

Four players are averaging double digits in scoring led by Wormley with his 12.0 scoring average.  Nick Calcaterra is next at 11.2 points per game followed by Apsay and Warren Jackson each averaging 10.0 points per game.  Wormley also leads the team with his 70% shooting from the field, 5.2 rebounding average, 14 assists and four blocked shots.  He is tied with Apsay each with 8 steals.  Calcaterra has connected on a team high 10 three's and shooting a team best 40% from three-point land.  Apsay is shooting a team high 91% from the charity stripe.

In the recent CCAA statistics that released last evening, the Gators are leading the conference in steals while they are third in assists, fifth in free throw percentage and sixth in both scoring and field goal percentage.  Three Gators are also in the top ten in the CCAA in three statistical categories, Wormley is second in field goal percentage and 8^th in free throw percentage while he is tied for 8^th in steals.  Apsay is fifth in free throw percentage and tied for 8^th in steals while Jackson is 10^th in free throw percentage. 

SF State's first opponent this week is Chico State, who was ranked 8^th in the nation in last week's NABC Division II Men's Basketball National Poll.  The Wildcats will travel to Rocklin, Calif., tonight for a 7:30pm non-conference game with William Jessup.  They are coming off a 1-1 weekend in the Carl's Jr. Mac Martin Invitational they hosted in Chico.

Chico State lost to then No. 23 Seattle Pacific 62-50 last Friday as the Wildcats were held to just 33% shooting from the field including 20% from three-point land.  Corey Silverstrom led the Wildcats with 16 points.  Then on Saturday, Chico State defeated Simpson (Calif.) 68-55 behind Silverstrom's 16 points.  Isaiah Ellis had 12 points and 13 rebounds while Robert Duncan added 13 points for the victors.

For the season, Chico State is averaging 77.4 points per game while giving up 65.0 points per game and are out-rebounding its opponents 36.0 to 31.6 rebounds per game.  The Wildcats are shooting 47% from the field including 37% from three's.  They also have connected on 74% of their attempts from the line.  Chico State's opponents are shooting 41% from the field and 28% from three's. 

Duncan leads the team with his 17.8 scoring average and 64% shooting from three's while recording a team high 10 steals.  Silverstrom and Ellis are also averaging double digits in scoring at 16.2 points and 12.4 points per game respectively.  Duncan and Jalen McFerren have dished out a team high 18 assists and Ellis has blocked a team leading 6 shots.  McFerren also leads the team with his 95.7% shooting from the line while Ellis is shooting a team high 68.4% from the field. 

The Gators lead the all-time series with the Wildcats 97-95, but Chico State has won 8 of the last 10 meetings including the last four straight.  SF State last defeated the Wildcats 63-59 at The Swamp at the Don Nasser Family Plaza on February 8, 2013.  The Wildcats won both meetings last year 65-57 in San Francisco and 61-59 in triple overtime in Chico. 

Stanislaus State will be the Gators' Saturday opponent with a scheduled tip-off of 7:30pm at The Swamp at The Don Nasser Family Plaza.  The Warriors will first host Cal State San Bernardino this Thursday evening in Turlock.  They are currently 1-3 overall and have lost their last three in row since opening up the season with a 59-53 overtime win at Notre Dame de Namur on November 19. 

The Warriors lost 84-77 in a rare non-conference game at Cal State Dominguez Hills this past Monday evening in which Christian Bayne led them with 17 points. 
Going into their game on Thursday, the Warriors are averaging 71.5 points and 34.0 rebounds per game while giving up 74.8 points and 33.3 rebounds per game.  They are shooting 42% from the field, 37% from three's and 76.9% from the line.  Their opponents are shooting 46.9% from the field, 38% from three's and 77.1% from the line. 

Bayne leads the team with his 15.8 scoring average, 17 assists, 11 steals and 95% shooting from the field.  Alex Carlson is averaging 14.5 points per game and shooting a team leading 46.2% from three-point land.  Stephen Evans leads the team with his 55% shooting from the field and Kyle Gouvela is averaging a team high 6.3 rebounds per game.

The Gators lead the all-time series with the Warriors 45-40 with the teams splitting their last 8 meetings.  SF State defeated the Warriors 59-47 in Turlock on February 20 of last year in San Francisco while Stanislaus State defeated the Gators 68-54 in Turlock on January 17. 

After this weekend, the Gators will travel to Arcata, Calif., on Saturday, December 12 for a 7:30pm scheduled conference game with Humboldt State.  They will return for the final time of the 2015 year on Friday, December 18 at 5pm for a non-conference game against Northwest Nazarene. 

Weekly Game Notes

Link to the Live Stat and Video Coverage of Both Games

Link to Comcast Hometown Network Channel 104's Coverage of Friday's Game
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