SAN BERNARDINO-- By defeating the Cal State San Bernardino Coyotes 76-70 this evening on the road in the CCAA, the SF State Gators secured the sixth seed in this upcoming week's 2015-16 CCAA Basketball Championships. The Gators will travel to Pomona this Tuesday, March 1 to face the third seed Cal Poly Pomona Broncos in a First Round match-up with a scheduled tip-off time of 7pm PST at Kellogg Arena on the campus of Cal Poly Pomona.
"It was a nice win to round out the regular season for us this evening," said SF State head coach
Paul Trevor. "It was a great team win and I am very proud of our guys on what they have accomplished so far this season." "Hopefully, we are gelling at the right time."
Warren Jackson paced the victors with 17 points as he went 7 for 13 from the field including connecting on three of his four attempts from the line. He also dished out four assists, grabbed six rebounds and blocked a shot in the Gator win this evening.
Treaven Duffy added 13 points off the bench for SF State with
Floyd Wormley scoring 10 points.
"
Warren Jackson elevated his game this weekend and
Treaven Duffy played a well-rounded game for us tonight," added Trevor.
SF State's bench outscored the Coyotes 32-12 and the Gators also held a 42-28 in points in the paint. The Gators out-rebounded Cal State San Bernardino 35-25 led by Jackson and Duffy each with six.
This was the Gators' first win at Cal State San Bernardino since January 23, 2009, a string of seven games. SF State improves to 16-10 overall and finishes the CCAA regular season with a 10-10 record. This was the third time in Coach
Paul Trevor's career at SF State, that he has a guided the Gators to 16 wins.
The Gators took an 18-11 lead, their largest of the first half on a three by
Nick Calcaterra off an assist from
Coley Apsay. Cal State San Bernardino (9-15, 6-14 CCAA) outscored the Gators 13-5 in the next five minutes to take a 24-23 on a jumper by Desi Barmore.
SF State retook the lead on its next possession on a three by Jackson off an assist from Duffy. The Gators increased that lead to 34-29 on two free throws by Calcaterra with just 84 seconds to go in the half, but a three by Zeke DeBlase cut the deficit to 34-32 heading into the locker room.
A lay-up by
Jon McMurry gave the Gators a 39-34 lead, early in the second half, but the Coyotes would not go away as they tied the game at 43-43 on a three by Juan Martinez at the 15:15 mark. The visitors went on an 11-1 run in the next three minutes to take a 54-44 lead capped by a Jackson three off an assist from Duffy. SF State increased its lead to 63-50 on a lay-up by
AJ Kahlon with a little over nine minutes left in the game.
The Coyotes hung in there though as they cut the Gator lead to 66-62 on a dunk by Barmore at the 4:33 mark of the second stanza. A
Brantley Bynum jumper off an assist from Wormley increased the Gator lead to 70-62. SF State went six-for-six from the charity stripe with Apsay going 4-for-4 and
Andre Jones connecting on both of his attempts to seal the 76-70 road conference victory.
SF State is now 16-3 when the Gators score over 70 points in a game. Their three losses were all in overtime at Humboldt State, to Cal State East Bay and at UC San Diego.
The Gators had 15 assists this evening with Jackson and Wormley leading the way each with four while three players had two each in Apsay, Bynum and Duffy.
SF State will now face No. 25 Cal Poly Pomona this Tuesday at 7pm in the First Round of the CCAA Basketball Championships at Kellogg Arena in Pomona, Calif. The other three first round match-ups are Cal State L.A. at Chico State; Sonoma State at UC San Diego and Cal State Monterey Bay at Humboldt State. The semi-finals and finals will be March 4 and 5 at The Stockton Arena in Stockton, Calif.
This is the seventh time since the CCAA started holding the CCAA Basketball Championships again in 2007-08 that the Gators have received a berth in the post-season tournament. The last time was in 2013-14 when the Gators was two years ago when they lost 78-66 to Chico State in the quarterfinals.
Tourney BracketBox Score PDFBox Score -----
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.
