SAN FRANCISCO —
Brantley Bynum had another career night as the San Francisco State men's basketball team won its fifth straight game on Saturday with a 79-65 victory over Cal State Monterey Bay.
With the win, SF State improves to 12-7 overall and 9-5 in CCAA action while the Otters remain in last place at 4-14 overall and 3-11 in conference play. In their last 20 matchups dating back to 2008, the Gators are now an impressive 15-5 versus the Otters.
"Brantley was terrific tonight. He's playing at another level that we've always known he had. He's really been carrying us through this stretch," said Head Coach
Vince Inglima. "We've really locked in defensively. We were able to prevent their two best shooters from getting a three-pointer in the second half."
A night after pouring in a career-high 27 points, Bynum followed it with a 28-point night and five rebounds. Unlike Friday night, where the Gators trailed for 35 minutes, the Gators led for 35 minutes.
SF State gave up the first two baskets of the game but an easy mismatch for
Tyler Jackson led to a layup and SF State had the lead, 8-6. From there, the Gators built the lead to 15-8. The Gators pushed the lead to 11, though CSUMB cut the lead to three before a pair of
Warren Jackson free throws sent the Gators into halftime with a five-point lead.
Jase Wickliffe and
Ryne Williams opened the second half with back-to-back layups and the Gators led by nine. The lead reached double digits yet again at the 11-minute mark on Bynum's bucket with 11:28 to go.
Michael Diaz's free throw with 5:48 to go pushed the lead to the largest of the night, 71-53.
Mateo Jones led CSUMB with 15 points and 10 rebounds and Jahvon Johnson added 13 points and five assists in the loss. SF State's aggressiveness at both ends led to foul trouble for the Otters. Gregg Polosky fouled out with 5:48 to go, his sixth disqualification of the season. Koen Sapwell and Anthony Booker were limited with four fouls and three fouls, respectively.
Warren Jackson scored 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting with four assists and four steals, both team-highs. Wickliffe added nine points,
Evan Zeller added eight points, and
Tyler Jackson scored six points with a team-high seven rebounds.
Jash Kahlon returned for the first game since Dec. 9 and scored a three-pointer in 12 minutes.
Kenny Macklin reeled in a career-high six rebounds.
Chiefy Ugbaja missed the game with a sore hamstring.
"Everybody contributed in a lot of different ways," added Inglima. "That's what this season's about, we play lots of games and to have guys who haven't played much give positive contributions are what keeps us winning."
Up Next
The Gators head to Holy Names for a non-conference contest on Tuesday, Jan. 23 at 7:30 p.m. SF State has won all three meetings dating back to 2001 but the two teams have never faced each other on the Hawks' home floor. Live stats and video will be provided by HNU, and be sure to follow
@sfstate_mbb for in-game updates.
