Men's Basketball | 1/19/2016 1:58:00 PM
SAN FRANCISCO– The SF State Gators will return home to The Swam at The Don Nasser Family Plaza this weekend for a pair of conference games against Bay Area rivals Cal State East Bay and Cal State Monterey Bay. This will be the second time that the Gators have faced the Pioneers and the Otters. Tip-off for both games this Friday and Saturday, January 22 and 23 is set for 7:30pm PST.
The Gators are 9-6 overall and 3-6 in the CCAA after going 1-1 this past weekend in the Valley. SF State lost to then No. 25 Chico State 61-50 on Friday night and came back and defeated Stanislaus State 75-71 on Saturday evening. The Gators are tied for 8
th place in the CCAA with Cal State Dominguez Hills.
The top eight teams at the end of the regular season will receive a bid to the 2015-16 CCAA Basketball Championships, March 1-5. The First Round games will be at the four higher seeds on March 1 with the semi-finals and final set for March 4-5 at The Stockton Arena in Stockton, Calif. Cal State San Marcos is ineligible this season for the CCAA Basketball Championships.
This past Friday in Chico, the Gators came back from an 11-point deficit and went on a 12-0 run to take a 38-37 lead over the Wildcats with 11:40 left in the game. Chico State followed that with a 7-0 run of its own and never looked back as they defeated the Gators 61-50.
Floyd Wormley paced the visitors with 16 points.
Then on Saturday evening in Turlock, SF State built a 22-point lead early in the second half (51-29) but the Warriors did not go away. Stanislaus State tied the game at 69-69 with a little under two minutes to go in the game. A lay-up by
Jon McMurry tied the game and then the Warriors once again tied the game on two made free throws at 71-71 with 52 ticks on the clock. A
Treaven Duffy lay-up gave the Gators the lead back and then two late free throws by
Nick Calcaterra clinched the 75-71 road victory for SF State. McMurry had a career high 24 points for the Gators with Calcaterra chipping in 14 points and
Brantley Bynum adding 11 points for the victors. SF State's bench outscored the Warriors 36-11 led by McMurry's 24 and Duffy's 9.
For the season, the Gators are averaging 70.5 points per game while giving up 67.7 points per game. They are being out-rebounded 32.3 to 31.7 but are forcing 15 turnovers per game and recording 8.2 steals per game. They are also shooting 44.6% from the field including 35% from three's while connecting on 73% of their attempts from the line.
Coley Apsay leads the way with his 11.1 scoring average along with his team leading 24 three's made, 21 steals and 95.2% shooting from the line. Wormley and
Warren Jackson are next on the Gators with their respective 9.1 and 8.9 scoring averages followed by McMurry at 8.1 Wormley leads the team with his 57% shooting from the field, 5.1 rebounding average, 45 assists and 15 blocked shots. McMurry has connected on a team leading 42.1% of his attempts from beyond the arc.
In the recent NCAA Division II statistics report that was released yesterday, Apsay is currently second in the nation in free throw percentage while as a team the Gators are 25
th in scoring defense, 27
th in fewest turnovers and 36
th in turnover margin.
In the recent CCAA statistics report that was released yesterday, Apsay and Wormley are in the top 10 in four categories. Apsay is first in free throw percentage and tied for 10
th in steals. Wormley is seventh in blocked shots and 10
th in assist/turnover ratio.
The Gators will face the Cal State East Bay Pioneers this Friday at The Swamp at The Don Nasser Family Plaza for a scheduled 7:30pm PST tip-off. The Pioneers are currently 6-11 overall and 2-7 in the CCAA, tied for 11
th place with Cal State L.A. Cal State East lost at home to then No. 14 UC San Diego 64-43 on Friday night as Ryan Okwudibonye had 12 points to lead the way for the Pioneers. Then on Saturday evening, the Pioneers lost 78-73 to Cal State San Bernardino also at home with Okwudibonye scoring a game high 26 points while Jalen Richard chipped in 14 points for Cal State East Bay.
For the season, the Pioneers are averaging 65.8 points per game while giving up 65.7 points per game. They are out-rebounding their opponents 32.8 to 30.3 rebounds per game. Richard leads the way with his 15.3 points per game average followed by Okudibonye at 12.9 points per game. Richard also has a team leading 29 assists, 32 steals and has connected on a team high 26 three's. Okudibonye is shooting a team high 50% from the field with Alex Carmon shooting a team leading 83.7% from the line.
This is the second time that the two teams have faced each other this month with the Gators winning 80-63 in Hayward on New Year's Day. Apsay paced SF State with 18 points as he connected on all 10 of his attempts from the charity stripe.
Andre Jones chipped in 14 points and Jackson added 13 points for the victors. SF State held the Pioneers to just 36% shooting from the field including 33% from three-point land while the Gators forced 19 turnovers. SF State now leads the all-time series with Cal State East Bay 63-27.
SF State will then entertain Cal State Monterey Bay, who is 7-8 overall and 5-4 in the CCAA which places them in sixth place in the conference. The Otters are coming off a 2-0 home stand and have won four of their last five games. They defeated Cal State San Bernardino 93-81 on Friday and then No. 14 UC San Diego 71-60 on Saturday in Seaside.
Prior to their game this Friday evening at Sonoma State, the Otters are averaging 75.7 points per game while giving up 72.2 points per game. They are out-rebounding their opponents 37 to 34 while shooting 46.8% from the field and 38% from three-point land. Ryan Nitz leads the way with his 19.8 scoring average followed by Evan Zeller at 14.7 and Alex Fertig at 10.7. Nitz is also leading Cal State Monterey Bay with his 49.8% shooting from the field, 6.0 rebounding average, 38 three's made and 78.7% shooting from the line. Zeller has connected on a team best 43.4% of his attempts from three's with Fertig dishing out a team high 48 assists.
In their win over the Coyotes on Friday, the Otters shot 59% from the field including 45% from three-point land while they had 17 assists and went 24-for-29 from the line. Nitz paced Cal State Monterey Bay with 29 points with Fertig chipping in 19. Julian Ducree added 15 points off the bench for the victors and Marquise Washington had 11 points.
Then on Saturday evening, Cal State Monterey Bay held the nationally ranked Tritons to just 32.8% shooting from the field and 21% shooting from three-point land to key their 11-poitn win. Nitz had 31 points to lead the Otters and Fertig chipped in 11 and Devin Murphy added 10 points.
This will also be the second time that the Gators and Cal State Monterey Bay have faced each other with the Otters wining 65-64 in Seaside on January 2. SF State took a 55-53 lead with 4:27 to go on two made free throws by
Damien Rance. The Otters retook the lead, 57-55, on a three by Zeller, but a dunk by the Gators' Bynum cut the lead to 59-58 with just 2:18 left in regulation. The Otters went on a 5-0 run, but SF State would not go away. A three by Apsay cut the deficit to just three with 10 seconds left, but Mateo Jones connected one of his two attempts from the line to give the hosts a 65-61 lead. A three by Jackson as the final buzzer sounded made the final 65-64 Otters. SF State now leads the all-time series with the Otters 15-9.
After this weekend, the Gators will travel to the Los Angeles metropolitan area for a pair of conference games with Cal State Dominguez Hills and Cal State L.A. on January 29 and 30. This will be the only time this season that SF State will face the Toros and the Golden Eagles.
Link to Live Video and Stats for both the CSUEB and CSUMB Game Notes-----
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.
Gator Athletics places great emphasis on academic performance as well as athletic achievement. The program offers student athletes the opportunity to reach their educational goals, as well pursue meaningful athletic accomplishments. For more information, visit SF State Athletics' website, Twitter and Facebook pages.
