SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco State men's basketball team closed out the calendar year with a 89-57 victory over Pacific Union on Sunday at the Main Gym at Don Nasser Family Plaza.
The Golden Gators (8-4) started fast and never allowed Pacific Union (5-5) much of a chance. San Francisco State shot a season-best 55 percent (33-of-60) and held PUC to 33.3 percent (22-of-66).
- Zane Paddon had a career-high 23 points. He had 18 at the half on 7-of-8 shooting including four threes.
- Ryne Williams added 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting.
- Niquis Garland had 10 points and dished out four assists in his first career start.
- Jordan Balser added nine points on 3-of-3 shooting before fouling out with 12:56 to go in the game.
- Matt Arrivas scored a career-high eight points in eight minutes of action.
- Jase Wickliffe and Chiefy Ugbaja led the Gators with seven rebounds apiece.
- Marc Williams was one of three PUC players in double digits and led the Pioneers with 12 points.
The Gators made eight of their first 10 shots while holding the Pioneers to 3-of-10, including 0-of-6 from deep. Tied 6-6, Paddon's three gave the Gators lead and they never trailed after that. From there, the Gators rattled off a 15-0 run. A couple of Gators helped the Pioneers cut the lead back to single digits but four consecutive points from
Chiefy Ugbaja pushed the lead back to double digits. Paddon added a jumper and a layup, assisted by
Ryne Williams, which built the Gators lead to 20 with five to go in the half and San Francisco State cruised to a 50-32 halftime lead.
Four different Gators scored during a 10-4 run to open the half, which grew the lead to 24. A 7-0 Pioneers run trimmed the lead back to 17 but the Gators led by less and were able to empty the bench down the stretch. The Gators had four dunks in the final four minutes. Michael Diaz threw one down, then Arrivas punctuated the win with a pair of dunks that put the Gators up 31. The fourth dunk came on an Arrivas dish to Tyler Jackson, then Arrivas ended the scoring with a layup.
San Francisco State begins 2019 with three road games with the first scheduled at Cal State Dominguez Hills on Thursday, January 3 at 7:30 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.
