SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco State men's basketball team jumped out to a 15-point halftime lead and senior Brantley Bynum scored 25 points but it wasn't enough in an 86-79 loss to Cal State San Marcos.

"Brantley continues to be a workhorse for us. He shoots very efficiently, makes tough shots when we need it, and he's really taking on a leadership role and asserting himself on the offensive end," said Head Coach Vince Inglima. "But as a team, if you don't make layups and free throws, you don't beat good teams. We had our opportunities. We didn't convert and they did."

The Gators (13-9/9-7 CCAA) fed off of the energy from the sellout Spirit Night IV crowd early. Bynum laid one in and Evan Zeller followed with a three-pointer on the next trip down. Bynum's dunk and-one near the 13-minute mark put the Gators up seven. The teams traded baskets until the six-minute mark when Niquis Garland fired up the crowd with a three-pointer that made it a 10-point ballgame. Zeller's layup with 1:54 to go gave the Gators their largest lead of the night at 15 and SF State took a 46-36 lead into halftime.

CSUSM opened the second half on a 12-2 run that evened the game 48-48 at the 15-minute mark. At the 10-minute mark, Brian Wright poured in six straight CSUSM points and finished off a 10-0 run which resulted in an 11-point Gators deficit.

"At the start of the second half, they switched the defense to a 1-3-1 and we weren't able to get any rhythm offensively," said Inglima. "They grabbed the momentum and a kid like Ethan Alvano isn't going to let you get it back."

After shooting a scorching 56.3 percent (18-of-32) from the field in the first half, the Gators started the second half on a 2-for-13 slide (.154). The Gators finished the half shooting 43.3 percent and were 50 percent for the night.

Bynum's team-high 25 points were three points shy of his career high. Zeller, Chiefy Ugbaja, and Ryne Williams all finished the night with 10 points apiece. Warren Jackson, who was honored in a pregame ceremony for reaching the 1,000-point career mark, finished with eight points. Jackson is now eighth all-time in program history with 1,109 points and is closing in on the 1,128 career points scored by Rick Croy '99.

Alvano, the conference's leading scorer (21.5 ppg), finished with a game-high 26 points on 10-of-18 shooting. Joe Boyd added 17 points and Wright scored 15 points. Josh Spiers added 10 points.

Up Next
The Gators host second-place UC San Diego on Saturday, February 3 at 5:30 p.m. The Tritons boast the CCAA's second and third-leading scorers, Christian Oshita (16.0 ppg) and Christian Bayne (15.9 ppg). Live stats and video of the contest will be provided, and be sure to follow @sfstate_mbb for in-game updates.