SAN FRANCISCO – The San Francisco State Gators used two runs to end each of the halves to key their 91-67 victory over the Dominican University of California Penguins (1-1) this evening the final game of the San Francisco State Tip-Off Classic. The Gators were the only team of the four that went undefeated over the weekend in the tournament.
Tournament Most Valuable Player,
Warren Jackson, paced the Gators with 18 points off the bench. The junior guard also dished out a career high 7 assists while going 8 of 9 from the field and making two of his four free throws. He was one of five Gators to score in double digits.
Coley Apsay and
Parker U'u also made the All-Tournament Team while scoring 17 points and 15 points each for the hosts. Also scoring in double digits was
Israel Hakim with 11 points.
The two teams played an even contest for the nine minutes with the score tied at 16-16. The hosts then went outscored Dominican 22-7 to the end half and took a 38-23 lead into the locker room. The Penguins cut the deficit to just 47-38 in the first five minutes of the new stanza, but the Gators increased their lead to 62-46 on two made free throws by Apsay.
Dominican would not go away as they cut the hosts' lead to 64-54 with just 8:15 left in regulation. San Francisco State outscored its guests 27-13 to the end the game and cruised to a 91-67 non-conference victory.
The Gators will return to the court on November 18-19 when they travel to Monmouth, Ore. to participate in the WOU/Doubletree by Hilton D2 Shootout on the campus of Western Oregon University. San Francisco State will first take on the hosts, Western Oregon on Friday, Nov. 18 at 7pm. The Wolves were the 2016 NCAA Division II West Regional Champions. The Gators will then face Concordia-Portland a week from this evening at 5pm.
GAME NOTES:
COACHES' QUOTES: "I am proud of our guys on how they competed together as a team this evening," said head coach
Paul Trevor. "Our team is a very tight group and support each other as shown tonight. Our back court has excelled within our system so far this season."
On Dominican coming back: "It's hard to hold a lead, we took a couple of time outs and then built the lead to 26," added Trevor. "We made some good adjustments on the Penguins' pressure."
DEFENSE; The Gators forced 16 turnover while recording 11 steals. They also held the Penguins to just 37.9% shooting from the field including 25.9% from three-point land.
Coley Apsay had 7 of the Gators' 11 steals to lead the way for the hosts.
UGBAJA: Chiefy Ugbaja had a career high with his 13 points and 6 rebounds in the Gators' win. He also had two blocked shots and was 4 of 5 from the field.
49-24: The Gators are 49-24 at home during Coach
Paul Trevor's seven years at the helm of the San Francisco State men's basketball program.
JUST ONE MISS: Warren Jackson was 8 of 9 from the field and also added a career high 7 assists off the bench for the Gators.
MORE A'S THAN T'S: For the second night in a row, the Gators recorded more assists than turnovers with 18 assists and 17 steals.
Warren Jackson led the way with 7 assists and two turnovers while
Coley Apsay had four assists and one turnover.
Israel Hakim and
Jash Kahlon each had two assists and one turnover.
ALL-TOURNAMENT: Three members of the Gators were named to the All-Tournament team in
Warren Jackson,
Coley Apsay and
Parker U'u. Jackson was named the Tournament MVP. Also making the team were Jeremiah Gray (Dominican), Dante Williams (Academy of Art) and Kaelen Mitchell (Stanislaus State).
MORE REGIONAL TOURNAMENTS: The Gators will participate in another important West Regional Tournament next weekend. They will travel to Monmouth, Ore., to take on GNAC opponents Western Oregon and Concordia-Portland. Then Nov. 25-26, they will participate in the NDNU Classic taking on PacWest foes, Holy Names and Notre Dame de Namur.
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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.
