LOS ANGELES– With its 62-48 loss at Cal State L.A. this evening the SF State Gators finished the month of January, 5-5 including 1-1 this weekend on the road in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. SF State will return home for four of its next five games beginning with this Friday, February 5 at 7:35pm PST when the Gators host Humboldt State in Spirit Night.
"Cal State L.A. was very well prepared for us, my hat off to the Golden Eagles," said SF State head coach
Paul Trevor. "We couldn't hit a shot this evening and we had too many breakdowns offensively. It is tough to win both games on the road any given weekend in this conference."
Cal State L.A. (4-16, 3-10 CCAA) was led by Duce Zaid's game high 28 points. Zaid was 8 of 16 from the floor including 5 of 7 from three-point land while grabbing 8 rebounds. He was the only Golden Eagle to score in double digits.
The Golden Eagles scored the first five points of the game all from the hands of Zaid. SF State came back and scored the next four points to cut the hosts' lead to 5-4.
Cal State L.A. outscored the Gators 24-13 in the next 12 minutes to take a 29-17 lead. A made free throw by Zaid increased the Golden Eagles' lead to 35-20. A lay-up by
Treaven Duffy off an assist from
Floyd Wormley cut the Gator deficit to 35-22 heading into the locker room.
The Golden Eagles held the Gators to just 36% shooting in the first half while connecting on 12 of their 20 attempts from the field (60%) including connecting on 66.7% of their attempts from beyond the arc.
Cal State L.A. outscored its visitors 12-6 in the first seven minutes of the second half to increase its lead to 47-28 (the Golden Eagles' largest lead of the game).
The Gators (11-8, 5-8 CCAA) went on a 14-3 run capped by a
Jon McMurry jumper to cut the Golden Eagles lead to 50-42 with 7:39 left in regulation. That's the closest the visitors would get as Cal State L.A. went on an 11-2 run in the next five minutes to increase its lead to 61-44.
SF State scored the five of the seven final points of the game (all from Wormley) to make the final 63-49 Golden Eagles.
The Gators held the Golden Eagles to just 32% shooting from the field in the second half and were only out-rebounded 37-24 with Wormley grabbing a season high 10 rebounds to lead SF State. McMurry paced the Gators with 12 points while the guests' bench outscored the Golden Eagles' bench 23-15 paced by
Nick Calcaterra's 8 points.
SF State remains all alone in seventh place, two games out fifth place which is currently held by Sonoma State and Cal State Monterey Bay. The top eight teams at the end of the regular season in the conference will receive a bid to the CCAA Basketball Championships. Cal State San Marcos is not eligible for the CCAA Basketball Championships this season. The conference tournament will commence on March 1 at the site of the four highest seeds. The semi-finals and finals will take place on March 4 and 5 at The Stockton Arena in Stockton, Calif.
The Gators will return home this weekend for a pair of conference games against Humboldt State and No. 13 Cal Poly Pomona. On Friday, February 5, SF State welcomes the Humboldt State Lumberjacks to The Swamp at The Don Nasser Family Plaza with a scheduled tip-off of 7:35pm PST. The first 500 students with a valid SF State student ID will receive t-shirts, doors will open at 5pm, prior to the women's game with Humboldt State at 5:35pm PST. This game will also be broadcast live on Comcast Hometown Network Channel 104. SF State will then host No. 13 Cal Poly Pomona a week from tonight with a scheduled tip-off of 7:30pm PST.
Box Score PDFBox Score HTML -----
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.
