SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — The San Francisco State men's basketball team punched its ticket to the CCAA Championships with Friday's 77-67 win at Cal State San Bernardino.

The top eight teams from the conference advance to the postseason and the Gators (16-9/12-7 CCAA) currently sit in fifth place. Cal State San Bernardino (12-12/10-10 CCAA) is in seventh place.

"This was our best job of closing out a game this year," said Head Coach Vince Inglima. "We took care of the ball, made free throws, and rebounded the ball."

CSUSB held a slim margin for the larger part of the second half until the Gators defense tightened up down the stretch. SF State outscored the Coyotes 16-3 over the final three minutes. The Coyotes went 1-of-6 down the stretch and scored on Elijah Brown's three-pointer with 20 seconds to go. Over the same span, the Gators went 4-of-5 and were a perfect 6-of-6 at the free throw line.

The Gators led 32-28 at halftime and grabbed a seven-point lead early in the second half thanks to buckets from Brantley Bynum and Jash Kahlon. The lead dissipated just as quickly after the Coyotes rattled off an 11-2 run and grabbed a 42-40 lead.

Warren Jackson, who finished with a game-high 23 points and a career-high 14 rebounds, set the tone early. The senior was  5-of-7 early while the rest of the team combined to go just 7-of-21. The Gators picked up though, and finished the night 30-of-67 (44.8 percent). He moved to sixth all-time on the Gators career scoring list, passing Al Desin (1,146, 1951-54). Jackson now stands at 1,168 points and is 10 points away from the number five spot held by Erik Fisher (1987-88, 1990-91).

"Warren stepped up and made huge shots down the stretch," said Inglima. "When he gets in that mode he is almost unstoppable and our team really feeds off of him."

Bynum finished with 19 points and seven rebounds, and Kahlon added 10 points in his first start since Dec. 9. Jase Wickliffe added seven points and matched a career-high eight rebounds.

"Jash had a great game in the post tonight," added Inglima. "He anchored our offense and we were able to play through him to get open looks."

SF State won the rebounding battle 50-26, which resulted in 17 second-chance points. The Gators also outscored CSUSB 34-16 in the paint.

Up Next
SF State heads to first-place Cal Poly Pomona (19-5/16-4 CCAA) on Saturday for a 7:30 p.m. game. The Gators came up short, 78-68, in the two teams' last meeting back on Jan. 5. Live stats and video will be available from CPP, and be sure to follow @sfstate_mbb for in-game updates.