Men's Basketball | 1/4/2016 2:47:00 PM
SAN FRANCISCO– The SF State Gators will return home for the first time since December 18 as they will host No. 13 UC San Diego and Cal State San Bernardino in a pair of conference games this Thursday and Saturday, January 7 and 9. Tip-off for both games is set for 7:30pm PST at The Swamp at The Don Nasser Family Plaza on the campus of SF State.
The Gators went 1-1 to open up the New Year this past weekend as they defeated Cal State East Bay 80-63 in Hayward on January 1 and then lost a nail biter 65-64 at Cal State Monterey Bay this past Saturday.
SF State is now 7-4 overall and 1-4 in the CCAA, which places them in a four-way tie for 9
th place. The top eight teams at the end of the regular season make the CCAA Basketball Championship Tournament which begins on March 1 with the First Round at the site of the higher seeds. The semi-final and final rounds are set for March 4 and 5 at Stockton Arena in Stockton, Calif.
In their 80-63 win at Cal State East Bay on Friday, the Gators shot 51% from the field and connected on 77.8% of their attempts from the line. SF State also forced 19 turnovers by its opponents while holding the Pioneers to just 36% shooting from the field.
Coley Apsay paced the Gators with his 18 points including going a perfect 10-for-10 from the charity stripe.
Andre Jones added 14 points and
Warren Jackson chipped in 13 points for the guests.
Then this past Saturday, SF State lost 65-64 at Cal State Monterey Bay as the Gators shot just 39% from the field. They did record 10 steals with two each coming from
Treaven Duffy,
Nick Calcaterra and Jackson. Jones paced the visitors with 15 points with Apsay adding 13 points.
For the season, the Gators are averaging 73.6 points per game while giving up 68.5 points per game. They are being out-rebounded 32.7 to 31.8, but are forcing 15.1 turnovers per game while recording 8.3 steals per game.
Apsay and
Floyd Wormley lead the team with their 12.3 and 10.2 respective scoring averages. The two are also tied for the team lead in steals each with 15. Wormley leads the team with his 62% shooting from the field, 5.8 rebounding average, 34 assists and 10 blocked shots. Apsay has connected on a team best 94.7% of his attempts from the line. He also leads the team with his 21 three's made and 44.7% shooting from beyond the arc.
In the recent NCAA Division II statistics that were released today, Apsay is fourth in the nation in free throw percentage while he leads the CCAA in that category. Wormley leads the CCAA in field goal percentage and is tied for 9
th in rebounding. As a team, the Gators are second in steals, third in free throw percentage, sixth in field goal percentage and in assists in the CCAA.
The Gators will first entertain the nationally ranked UC San Diego Tritons who are currently 13
th in the nation according to the NABC Division II poll that was released last Tuesday. The Tritons are now 10-2 overall and 5-1 in the CCAA after splitting their two home games last weekend. UC San Diego lost 82-72 to Humboldt State last Friday and then came back and defeated then No. 5 Cal Poly Pomona 72-69.
The Tritons lead the all-time series with the Gators 15-14, but SF State has won the last six games in San Francisco. They are currently in a four-way tie for first place with Cal Poly Pomona, No. 21 Chico State and Humboldt State.
UC San Diego is averaging 74 points per game while giving up 62 points per game while the Tritons are out-rebounding their opponents 37.9 to 31.8. They are also shooting 48% from the field including 39% from three's.
The trio of Drew Dyer, Adam Klie and Aleks Lipovic lead the Tritons with their respective 15.8, 14.1 and 10.2 scoring averages. Klie also leads the team with his 51.6% shooting from the field, 41 assists and 10 steals. Dyer and Lipovic each lead the team with their 50% shooting from the field while Dyer leads the team with his 82% shooting from the line. Zach McMillan has blocked a team high 14 shots this season.
This Saturday, the Gators will entertain Cal State San Bernardino who is currently 3-7 overall and 0-6 in the CCAA heading into its game at Sonoma State on Friday. The Coyotes lead the all-time series with the Gators 25-7 with the two teams splitting the games last year each winning on their home court.
The Coyotes are averaging 73.3 points per game while giving up 76.3 points per game while they are being out-rebounded 39 to 32. Anthony January leads the team with his 12.5 scoring average followed by Zeke DeBlase at 11.5 points per game average. Everett Turner played in his first game this past Saturday against Humboldt State and scored a game high 28 points and grabbed 8 rebounds.
Juan Martinez has a team high 22 steals while Keith Smith has a team leading 31 assists. Jordan Williams is shooting a team high 66% from the field and DeBlase has connected on a team leading 38% of his attempts from beyond the arc.
After this weekend, the Gators will be back on the road for a pair of conference games at No. 21 Chico State and Stanislaus State. This will be the second time that the Gators will face both the Wildcats and Warriors. SF State lost to both 74-67 on December 4 against Chico State and 68-52 to Stanislaus State on December 5 at home.
Live Stats and Video of Both GamesGame notes
