Men's Basketball | 12/5/2016 4:34:00 PM
SAN FRANCISCO--- The San Francisco State Gators will have three games in five days started with their exhibition game tomorrow evening at 8pm at Kezar Pavilion against cross-town foe, University of San Francisco. The Gators will return to conference action this Friday at 7:30pm against Sonoma State in Kentfield, Calif. They will end their week with a non-conference home game this Saturday, December 10 at 7pm.
The Gators are off to their first 8-0 start since 1941-42, when they started their season with a 9-0 record. This past weekend, San Francisco State opened up conference play with two home victories over Cal Poly Pomona (79-63) and Cal State East Bay (80-65). SFSU is one of 19 teams in the nation in NCAA Division II that are still undefeated.
San Francisco State is led in scoring by the trio of
Warren Jackson (18.8 ppg),
Coley Apsay (14.5 ppg) and
AJ Kahlon (12.4 ppg). Kahlon also leads the Gators with his 11.6 rebounding average, 63.3% shooting from the field, and 19 blocked shots. Apsay leads the team with his 27 steals, 19 three's made, 55.9% shooting from three's and 90.6% shooting from the charity stripe. Jackson has dished out a team high 33 assists and is second on the team with his 56% shooting from the field, 52% shooting from three's and 88.4% shooting from the line.
For SFSU's exhibition game against University of San Francisco, each team will wear commemorative uniforms as part of the festivities surrounding the Legends of Kezar game, which will also include rolled back concession prices, 1950's music and a dance contest at halftime. Tip-off on Tuesday is scheduled for 8pm at Kezar Pavilion in San Francisco.
After Tuesday's exhibition game, the Gators will return to conference action as they travel to Kentfield, Calif., for a 7:30pm scheduled tip-off with Sonoma State this Friday, December 9. The games will be played at the College of Marin. The next evening, SFSU will host Simpson University in a non-conference game at The Swamp at The Don Nasser Family Plaza with a scheduled tip-off of 7pm.
GAME NOTES
GATORS: San Francisco State is 8-0 for the first time since the 1941-42 season, when the Gators started 9-0. They also started CCAA play by going 2-0 last weekend with a 79-63 win over Cal Poly Pomona and an 80-65 win over Cal State East Bay at home.
COACH'S QUOTES: On the 8-0 start: "We take it one game at a time," said SFSU head coach
Paul Trevor. "We've had some good wins against some good teams. I'm very excited where we are as a team right now."
On the upcoming week: "This is a busy week for us with counting last week, we have five games in eight days," added Trevor. "This is a busy stretch for us, but hopefully we have our foundation built for our guys to get through this. We just need maintain our conditioning throughout the week."
70 POINTS: Since the beginning of the 2014-15 season, the Gators are 23-3 in games that they have scored at least 70 points including going a perfect 7-0 this season. Their 61-50 win at Notre Dame de Namur on November 26 as their first win scoring under 70 points since a 59-47 win over Stanislaus State on Feb. 20, 2015.
FOURTH IN THE REGION: SFSU is fourth in the region according to the D2SIDA Media poll that was released today. This is the third straight week that the Gators are ranked in the top five. The last two weeks they were fifth.
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE: The Gators are 50-24 at The Swamp at The Don Nasser Family Plaza during Head Coach
Paul Trevor's stint on the sidelines for SFSU. San Francisco State has only recorded one losing record at home and that was during the 2011-12 season, a 5-6 record.
DOUBLE VISION: San Francisco State's
AJ Kahlon has recorded five double-doubles this season while averaging 12.4 ppg and 11.6 rpg. He had a career night scoring 28 points and grabbing 23 rebounds in the Gators' 99-93 triple overtime win at Western Oregon on November 18.
STEALIN' AWAY: As a team, the Gator shave recorded 96 steals this season for an average of 12.0 per game in their first eight games.
Coley Apsay leads the way with 27 followed by
Nick Calcaterra 19,
Chiefy Ugbaja 16 and Warren Jzckson 14.
BLOCK THAT SHOT: AJ Kahlon has 19 blocked shots this season which leads the Gators. As a team, the Gators have blocked 37 shots.
Chiefy Ugbaja has recorded six blocked shots while
Jash Kahlon has four and
Derrick Brown with three. Other Gators that have recorded blocked shots this season are:
Warren Jackson (two),
Ryne Williams (two) and
Coley Apsay (one).
JUST TWO MORE IN 2016: After their three games this week, San Francisco State will just have two games left in the 2016 calendar year. The Gators will host Humboldt State in a 4pm matinee conference match-up on Sunday, December 18. Then on December 31, the Gators will travel to Chico for a 3:30pm conference match-up with Chico State.
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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.
