SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco State men's basketball team fended off a late surge to squeak by visiting Cal State Monterey Bay 78-76 in the two teams' CCAA opener on Friday night at the Main Gym at Don Nasser Family Plaza.
- Kenny Macklin poured in a career-high 18 points.
- Chiefy Ugbaja had a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
- Niquis Garland also had a career-high with 10 points and three three-pointers.
- San Francisco State (4-1/1-0 CCAA) dominated the glass 43-28.
- Both teams attempted 30 field goals apiece in the first half but the Gators made it to the line 18 and made a dozen, compared to just 4-of-5 for the Otters.
- The Otters (0-5/0-1 CCAA) launched 64 shots with 32 of those attempts from deep.
- Charlie Tooley led all players with 24 points for the Otters.
Cal State Monterey Bay used four three-pointers and an old-fashioned three-point play to jump out to a 15-11 lead.
Jordan Balser answered with a Gators three and distance, all by different players, and CSUMB held a 15-11 lead. The Gators tied it briefly at 18 thanks to a
Ryne Williams jumper but yet another long ball put the Otters back in front.
Chiefy Ugbaja cut the lead to two with a layup and
Kenny Macklin followed the next trip down with a three-point play to give San Francisco State a 23-21 advantage.
The lead grew to seven on a Garland corner three. Another Macklin layup with under three to go in the half made it a nine-point lead, though the Otters cut the lead to five, 43-38, at the half.
The Gators grew the lead to double digits by the 16-minute mark and made a 13-point lead with 7:27 to go on Chiefy Ugbaja's layup. However, out of the eight-minute media timeout, the Otters used a 12-3 run to the cut the lead to three with under five minutes to go. The run was capped by a Gators turnover that led to a fast break steal and layup for Tooley, who was fouled with 3:40 to go. The junior guard tied it at 69-69 with the free throw before a Macklin free throw put San Francisco State back up by a point.
A Gators loose-ball foul with 2:04 sent J.R. Schilling to the free throw line, where he made both for a 71-70 Otters advantage. The teams traded free throws and the lead before Williams buried a three from the left side to give the Gators a 75-73 lead. Tooley answred with a three of his own to make it 76-75 with under a minute to go but
Jiday Ugbaja bucket with under a minute to go made it 77-76. The Otters grabbed an offensive rebound but
Chiefy Ugbaja came up with the steal at the other end. Macklin made one more free throw to fend off the comeback.
The homestand continues as the Gators host Cal Poly Pomona on Thursday, November 29 at 7:30 p.m. and Chico State on Saturday, December 1 at 3 p.m. Live stats and video will be available, and be sure to follow San Francisco State men's basketball on Twitter and Instagram at @sfstate_mbb.
Courtside season tickets are still available for the 2018-19 season. A full season, which guarantees courtside seating for all twelve of San Francisco State's home conference basketball doubleheaders, is $250 per seat. For more information, visit sfstategators.com/courtside.
