SAN FRANCISCO — The No. 17-ranked San Francisco State men's basketball team made history on Saturday with its 96-76 win over visiting Cal State L.A.
The win set a program record in the modern era with the most in a season at 22. The Gators (22-3/15-3 CCAA) eclipsed the 21-mark set by the 1983-84 team, a team that went on to reach the NCAA Division II Elite Eight. Dan Farmer's 1939-40 squad holds the overall mark for most wins at 27-7.
The team's five seniors —
Coley Apsay,
Derrick Brown,
Nick Calcaterra,
Israel Hakim, and
AJ Kahlon — made the start on Senior Night and set the tone with 12-0 start that allowed the Gators to lead wire-to-wire. The lead stood at nine at the half but the Gators piled on with a 7-0 run to start the second half that made it a 16-point ballgame. The lead grew to as large as 26 down the stretch.
SF State was an efficient 33-of-55 (60 percent) from the field. Calcaterra scored a career-high 23 points, eclipsing his previous mark of 22 points in Nov. 2015. He did it on 9-of-12 shooting that included 5-of-8 from downtown.
Warren Jackson added 15 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field and dished out a game-high seven assists.
AJ Kahlon had 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds. Redshirt sophomore
Ryne Williams came off the bench for 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting. Hakim grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.
Travis Hammonds and Jordan Wilson scored 23 points apiece for the Golden Eagles. Geoffrey Frid added a dozen points and a team-high seven rebounds in the loss.
Up Next
The Gators hit the road for the final two games of the regular season. SF State is at Cal Poly Pomona on Thursday, Feb. 23 and at Humboldt State on Saturday, Feb. 25. Both games will tip at 7:30 p.m.
The Road Starts Here
SF State hosts the first round of the CCAA Championships on Tuesday, Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. The opponent is to be determined but if the season ended today, Cal State L.A. would be making a return trip to San Francisco. The first 450 students in attendance will receive a free The Road Starts Here T-shirt.
