SAN FRANCISCO — There were highlight-reel moments but a poor defensive night by the San Francisco State men's basketball team proved costly in an 82-79 non-conference loss to Pacific Union on Saturday in the Gators' 2017-18 home opener.
"Pacific Union plays very hard and there's no quit in that team and we knew that if we gave them life that they are very capable," said Head Coach
Vince Inglima. "We came out and gave them life. We came out with very low energy. I was really disappointed with our intensity defensively to start the game. Credit to them, they took advantage of that."
The Gators (4-2) got out of the gate slow and went just 5-of-15 in the opening 10 minutes. That allowed the Pioneers (2-2) to jump out to a 23-13 lead, though SF State cut the lead to 25-20 with 7:48 to go in the half. SF State went ahead with under four minutes to go after
Brantley Bynum's steal and outlet pass led to a fast-break dunk for
Warren Jackson.
SF State went up by as much as seven but allowed the Pioneers to stick around and the two teams entered halftime tied at 36-36.
Evan Zeller scored the first five points of the second half and a Zeller three-pointer four minutes later made it an 12-point Gators lead. The defense lapsed and PUC climbed back into the game with a 10-0 run. Three Zeller free throws kept the Gators in front and another Zeller three grew the lead back to eight with nine minutes to play. The Pioneers chipped away at the lead over the next six minutes and took the lead, 75-74, on a pair of Devon Pinnock free throws. The Gators trailed 80-79 with a minute to go and needed a stop and
Chiefy Ugbaja came up with a block.
Warren Jackson's three at the other end didn't fall, then Ugbaja intercepted an outlet pass but was called for a charge in the paint. Rae Hubbard's layup made it a three-point Pioneers lead and the Gators' last-ditch effort didn't fall.
"We responded but the damage was done in a way. Even though we started the second half terrific, we were getting deflections, we were converting, and then we ran out of steam a little bit," added Inglima. "End in the end, that game was lost in our preparation. It's a hard but good lesson. It's not how you want to open up your home court. I'm hoping that we can take from this what we can and grow."
PUC shot 56.3 percent (32-of-58) from the field and was led by 18 points from Hubbard. Chris Camper, Brandon Franklin, and Jayson Marquez all added 17 points. PUC held a 29-23 advantage on the glass, led by a game-high 10 by Franklin. Zeller led all players with 21 points.
Warren Jackson scored 18 points and had five assists. Ugbaja added 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting and finished with five rebounds, two assists, and two steals before fouling out. Bynum added 11 points with four assists and three steals.
Up Next
SF State takes on Cal State LA (6-1/2-0 CCAA) on Friday, Dec. 1 in a CCAA doubleheader. That night is Purple Out IV and the first 500 students in attendance will receive a free T-shirt. The game will be broadcast live on TV and online at Comcast Hometown. Live stats and will be available at
sfstategators.com. Be sure to follow
@sfstate_mbb for in-game updates.
