LA JOLLA, Calif. — The San Francisco State men's basketball team made a strong showing but came up short in a tough 80-79 loss at No. 10 UC San Diego on Thurdsay in RIMAC Arena.
The Gators (5-3/2-2 CCAA) trailed by 15 at the half but outscored the Tritons (8-1/5-0 CCAA) by 14 in the second half. San Francisco State grabbed a 57-56 lead on Brian Nebo's layup at the 12-minute mark and built a nine-point lead with five and a half minutes to go but was unable to hold on.
- Four Gators reached double digits. Jiday Ugbaja followed up his season-high performance vs. Chico State by scoring 18 points, which matched his career best.
- Ryne Williams, the reigning CCAA Player of the Week, added 16 points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.
- Chiefy Ugbaja scored a season-high 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting.
- Zane Paddon added a career-high 13 points. He went 5-of-6 in the first half but did not attempt a field goal in the second half.
- The Golden Gators made 8 of their first 16 three-point attempts but made just one of their last seven.
- UCSD made 17 threes, one shy of the team's season high.
- UCSD's 49.2 percent shooting was the highest allowed this season by the Gators, who entered the game leading the nation in NCAA Division II field goal percentage defense.
- The Triton's Chris Hansen led all players with 27 points on 10-of-19 shooting, including 6-of-9 from deep. He also led all players with 11 rebounds.
- Tyrell Roberts added 23 points for the Tritons.
The game was knotted for the first 11 minutes. After a Paddon three-ball tied the game at 23, the Tritons tore off a 10-0 run in the span of two minutes. From there, the deficit grew to 51-36 at the half.
San Francisco State came out of the locker room focused and cut the lead to one, 56-55, with 14 minutes to go. The Gators made three consecutive stops, then took the lead on the Nebo layup. Tied again at 61-61, the Gators went on a quick 11-2 run in which they went 3-of-3 and 4-of-4 at the stripe. That gave the Gators a nine-point lead with five and a half minutes to go but the Tritons answered. UC San Diego made six of its last seven shots and finished on a 17-7 run that saw the Gators go just 2-of-7 over the same stretch. San Francisco State had a chance for the win with seven seconds to go but Jiday Ugbaja's jumper was off target.
The road trip concludes on Saturday, December 8 at 3 p.m. at Cal State San Marcos, then the Gators return home December 13 to face Cal State San Bernardino in the first of a three-game homestand. 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.
