ARCATA–   In a hard fought CCAA battle, it was the hosts Humboldt State Lumberjacks coming on top of the SF State Gators 85-80 in overtime at The Lumberjack Arena in Arcata this evening.  Coley Apsay and Floyd Wormley recorded their first collegiate double-double performances as Warren Jackson chipped in 15 points.  Apsay had a season high 23 points and 10 rebounds while Wormley had 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Gators.

"I am really proud of our guys on how they played tonight," said sixth-year head coach Paul Trevor.  "We should have won the game in regulation and it was a great effort from a variety of guys this evening."

SF State's bench outscored the Lumberjacks 37-12 lead by Apsay's career high 23 points.  Apsay went 6 of 13 from the field including connecting on a season high five of his 9 attempts from beyond the arc.  The junior transfer also connected on 6 of his 7 attempts from the charity stripe.  He also grabbed a season high 10 rebounds and dished out two assists in 35 minutes.

Wormley had 16 points and a career high 10 rebounds while going 6-for-8 from the field.  Jackson added 15 points for the Gators (5-3, 0-3 CCAA) to go along with his three assists.   

SF State built a 15-9 lead mid-way through the first half, but the Lumberjacks outscored their guests 17-6 in the next five minutes to take a 26-21 lead. Jackson's three off an assist from Brantley Bynum capped a 13-1 run by the Gators as they took a 34-27 lead with 2:28 to go in the first half.  Humboldt State cut the margin to 34-31, but the visitors finished the half outscoring the Lumberjacks 7-3 to take a 41-34 lead into the locker room.

Humboldt State (7-1, 3-1 CCAA) started the second half outscoring the Gators 16-5 to take a 50-46 lead in the first six minutes of the new half capped by a Thomas Witzel three.

A three by Nick Calcaterra capped a 14-5 run by the Gators as they took a 60-56 lead at the 7:22 mark of the second half.

The Lumberjacks' Witzel three cut the guests' lead to 60-58 at the 4:37 mark, but Wormley came right back and a three of his own off an assist from Apsay to increase the Gators' lead to 63-58.

A lay-up by Malik Morgan capped a 7-2 run by the hosts as the Lumberjacks tied the game at 65-65 with just 49 ticks on the clock.  The Gators retook the lead on a Jackson lay-up with 23 seconds left, but Rakim Brown tied the game to send the game into overtime.

Humboldt State scored the first six points of the overtime, but a three by Apsay cut the Lumberjack lead to 73-70 with a little over two minutes left in the extra five-minute period.

The Lumberjacks increased their lead to 82-72 with 34 seconds left in the extra period, but the Gators would not go away. 
A made three by Jon McMurry and then a turnover by the Lumberjacks to go with two made free throws by McMurry cut the deficit to 82-77 with 23 seconds.  Humboldt State was fouled and missed both of its free throws, McMurry was fouled for the Gators as he connected on one of his two attempts to cut the hosts led to 82-78 with 17 seconds to go.

Morgan went 1-for-2 on the Lumberjacks' next possession and then McMurry made a lay-up to cut the lead to just 83-80 but there was just five seconds left on the clock.  Morgan connected on both of his attempts from the charity stripe as the Lumberjacks took the 85-80 overtime victory.

"I am really proud of our guys as they decided to come up here on the road and gave us a complete team effort," added Trevor.  "I reallyfeel like tonight we have turned the corner and cannot wait for our next game this Friday at home against Northwest Nazarene."

Witzel led the Lumberjacks with 29 points and 10 rebounds with Brown added 21 points and Morgan chipping in 19 points.

SF State out-rebounded the Lumberjacks 46-40 and also had 12 assists with three coming from Jackson and two each by Damien Rance and Apsay.

The Gators will return home this Friday, December 18 at 5pm when they host Northwest Nazarene in a non-conference game at The Swamp at The Don Nasser Family Plaza.  This will be the Gators' final game of the 2015 calendar year and final non-conference game of the regular season.  After the New Year, SF State will finish off its season with 17 conference games beginning on January 1 in Hayward against Cal State East Bay at 4pm PST.

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