NAMPA, Idaho — The San Francisco State men's basketball shot 55.9 percent from the field and 44.1 percent from behind the three-point line in a convincing 92-75 victory at Northwest Nazarene on Saturday in the Johnson Sports Center.

The Gators' (3-1) best three-point shooting of the season came as they also held NNU (3-1) to .276 shooting, the lowest allowed by the Gators this season.

"Tonight we defended at a very high level, which we obviously didn't do last night. We contested every shot and rebounded with great physicality," said Head Coach Vince Inglima. "Good teams bounce back after a bad game, and we definitely did that tonight, which isn't an easy task on the road on a Saturday night. I'm really proud of our guys."

NNU led by seven with under nine minutes to go in the first half but the Gators responded. Brantley Bynum scored on a fourth-chance putback and Warren Jackson and Jash Kahlon hit back-to-back three-pointers for the lead with under seven minutes to go. Warren Jackson hit two free throws, converted a fast break, and Jase Wickliffe hit a three-pointer with a minute to go before the half to make it a nine-point Gators lead. Obi Megwa scored five straight points to trim the Gators' halftime lead to 43-38.

Nikola Prvulj scored in the opening minute of the second half for NNU but the Nighthawks were held to 2-of-10 shooting with a pair of turnovers for the next six minutes. In the meantime, the Gators rebuilt the lead back up and made it a 10-point ballgame on Ryne Williams' three-pointer at the 13-minute mark. The Gators never looked back and led by as much as 24.

"The defense spurred our offense. Warren did a great job of being aggressive early on that end, setting the tone," added Inglima. "Our bench performed really well tonight. Kenny, Jase, and Ryne gave us great minutes when Evan [Zeller] and Chiefy [Ugbaja] got in foul trouble."

Jackson led SF State with 19 points on 6-of-10 shooting, five rebounds, and five assists. He averaged 18 points, six assists, and 3.5 rebounds in a 1-1 weekend and was named to the NNU Invitational All-Tournament Team. Zeller, who was limited to 22 minutes after picking up two fouls in the first 10 minutes, still had 16 points and five rebounds. That opened up an opportunity for Wickliffe, who played  a career-high 28 minutes and made the most of it with a career-high 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting with four three-pointers. Williams followed up a career night with 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting. Brantely Bynum added nine points and a team-high seven rebounds.

The Nighthawks were led by Maurice Jones' 26 points and 12 rebounds. Megwa added 13 points, Khalil Thompson had 12 points, and Prvulj scored 10 points in the loss.

Up Next
The Gators begin CCAA action on Tuesday, Nov. 21 at 7:30 p.m. in a doubleheader at Cal State East Bay. Live stats and video for both games will be provided by the Pioneers. Be sure to follow @sfstate_mbb for in-game updates.