Men's Basketball | 2/22/2016 2:09:00 PM
SAN FRANCISCO– The SF State Gators' men's basketball team will finish off their 2015-16 regular season with a pair of road conference games in Southern California this weekend. SF State comes into this weekend with a 15-9 overall record and a 9-9 record in the CCAA, which places them in the sixth spot for the upcoming eight-team CCAA Basketball Championships, March 1-5.
The Gators are coming off a thrilling 80-76 triple overtime victory on Senior Night this past Saturday against Sonoma State. Prior to the game, SF State recognized its four seniors in
Justice Howard,
Andre Jones,
Jon McMurry and
Floyd Wormley.
SF State built a nine point half-time lead, but the Seawolves sent the game into overtime as they tied the game on a three late in regulation. In the first overtime, the Gators built a four point lead but Sonoma State sent the game into the second overtime as they connected on two free throws with 14 seconds left.
Sonoma State built a three-point lead in the second five-minute extra period, but the Gators' Wormley hit a three off an assist from
Warren Jackson to send the game into a third overtime. Then in the third extra period, SF State took a 74-69 and held on for the 80-76 as the Gators went six-for-six from the line down the stretch with
Treaven Duffy connected on all four of his attempts and
Nick Calcaterra connected on both of his attempts from the charity stripe.
Warren Jackson was one of five players to score in double digits with his team high 16 points.
Andre Jones added 12 points and the trio of Wormley, McMurry and Duffy each chipped in 10 points. The Gators are now 15-2 when they score over 70 points in a game. With the win, SF State is also 3-2 in overtime games.
For the season, the Gators are averaging 70.8 points per game while giving up 68 points per game. They are shooting 43.7% from the field including 35% from three's and connecting on 71% of their attempts from the line. SF State is forcing 15.4 turnovers per game while recording 7.8 steals per game.
Jackson leads the team with his 10.6 scoring average followed by McMurry (9.6 ppg),
Coley Apsay (9.1 ppg) and Wormley (9.0 ppg). Wormley leads the team with his 51.7% shooting from the field, 5.6 rebounding average, 66 assists and 27 blocked shots. With his 27 blocked shots, Wormley is 10
th on the Gators' single season blocked shot list and he is eighth on the career list with 40 blocked shots.
McMurry leads the team with his 39.8% shooting from three's and team high 38 three's made while Apsay has connected on a team best 92.3% of his attempts from the line and recorded a team leading 26 steals.
The 15 wins by the Gators is the third time that Coach Trevor coached team has achieved at least 15 wins during his six years behind the bench at SF State. During the 2012-13 and 2010-11 season, the Gators went 16-12 and 16-11 with Trevor on the sidelines.
The Gators will first travel to La Jolla this Friday, February 26 for a 7:30pm scheduled tip-off with No. 13 UC San Diego Tritons. The Tritons are 19-5 overall and 14-4 in the CCAA, which places them in second place one-game behind No. 8 Chico State and a game and a half ahead of third place No. 20 Cal Poly Pomona.
The Tritons are coming off a 78-72 loss at Cal State San Marcos this past Thursday in which Grant Jackson had a team high 25 points. They are averaging 71.4 points per game while giving up 60.8 points per game while out-rebounding their opponents 37.3 to 32.3. Drew Dyer and Adam Klie lead the Tritons with their respective 15.2 and 13.3 scoring averages. Chris Hansen is shooting a team leading 58% from the field with Dyer connecting on a team high 48% of his attempts from beyond the arc. Dyer also leads the team with his 81.7% shooting from the line with Klie averaging a team best 5.5 rebounds per game.
UC San Diego defeated the Gators on January 7 in San Francisco 73-48 behind Aleks Lipovic's 16 points. He was one of four players to score in double digits for the Tritons, who held the Gators to just 26% shooting from the field. McMurry paced SF State with 14 points and Jackson added 11 points for the Gators.
SF State will then travel to San Bernardino for its regular season finale against the Cal State San Bernardino Coyotes on Saturday, February 27 at 7:30pm. The Coyotes are 8-14 overall and 5-13 in the CCAA, which places them tied for the 10
th spot with Cal State East Bay, two games out of the eighth spot. They are coming off a 86-80 loss at Cal State San Marcos this past Saturday.
Cal State San Bernardino is averaging 72 points per game while giving up 75 points per game. They have five players scoring in double figures led by Everett Turner's 13.0 scoring average. He also leads the team with his 78.9% shooting from the line while Desi Barimore is shooting a team best 52% from the field.
SF State defeated the Coyotes 74-57 on January 9 in San Francisco behind McMurry and Jackson who scored 15 points.
Damien Rance added 12 points for the Gators and
Brantley Bynum chipped in 10 points.
After this weekend, the Gators will participate in the 2015-16 CCAA Basketball Championships for the seventh time since the post-season started back up in 2007-08. SF State last participated in the championships during the 2013-14 season when they lost 78-66 to Chico State in the quarterfinals in Ontario. The Gators have advanced twice to the semi-finals once during the 2012-13 season and the other in the 2007-08 season. SF State lost 60-54 to Cal Poly Pomona in Ontario in 2013 and 72-65 to UC San Diego in San Bernardino in 2008.
The championships will begin with First Round games on Tuesday, March 1 at the site of the four highest seeds. The semi-finals and finals are set for March 4-5 at The Stockton Arena in Stockton, Calif.
Right now the four top seeds are Chico State, UC San Diego and Humboldt State. Cal State Monterey Bay is tied with Humboldt State for the fourth spot, but the Lumberjacks hold the tie-breaker. Followed by Cal State Monterey Bay at five, the next three spots are held by SF State, Sonoma State and Cal State L.A. with Stanislaus State and Cal State San Bernardino still for vying for the eighth and final spot with just two games left. Cal State San Marco is not eligible for the Championships this season.
Live Stats at UC San DiegoLive Video at UC San DiegoLive Stats at CSUSBGame 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.
