HUMBOLDT, Calif. — The San Francisco State men's basketball team got big performances on Saturday from
Jiday Ugbaja and
Tyler Jackson to stave off host Humboldt State and hold onto a 71-67 victory in the final game of the regular season.
- The Gators defense held the Lumberjacks to 38.6 percent (27-of-70), including 16.7 percent (2-of-12) from deep. The Gators are 12-2 when holding opponents to 40 percent or less.
- SF State caught a break at the free throw line. The Gators only shot 68.8 percent (11-of-16) but the Jacks went an abysmal 47.8 percent (11-of-23) at the charity stripe. SF State was whistled for 23 fouls compared to 16 against HSU.
- Jiday Ugbaja and Jackson led the Gators with 18 points apiece. Ugbaja leads the Gators with 13.7 points per game. The 18 points were a career-high for Jackson, who also matched a career high with nine rebounds.
- Jordan Balser and Zane Paddon each added eight points apiece.
- Jase Wickliffe dished out a career-high five assists. The Gators had 12 on the night compared to just seven for the Jacks.
- Chiefy Ugbaja had two more steals, raising his program-best career total to 156.
- HSU's Justin Everett led all players with 24 points and 12 rebounds, both season highs for the redshirt senior. Calvin Young II added 20 points and Jamarlin Jackson had 10 in the loss.
Down 4-2, the Gators broke the game open early with a 9-0 run in the span of two minutes. Over the next four minutes, the Jacks responded with an 11-4 run and tied the game at 15-15 on an Amari Green layup. Williams buried back-to-back three-pointers to keep the Gators in front by six. Jackson and Balser each scored five points apiece during a 12-2 Gators run and
Jiday Ugbaja capped the run with a layup to put SF State up 33-19 with 3:30 to go in the half. The Jacks closed the half with an 11-3 but the Gators still led, 36-30.
The Gators led most of the second half but HSU hung around. Five points from Young cut the Gators lead to two at the 12-minute mark but Chiefy Ugbaja dished to cousin Jiday Ugbaja to keep it a two-possession game. With the game hanging in the balance with eight minutes to play, Jackson got a pair of layups that pushed the lead back to seven. LJ Williams scored for the Jacks, then neither team scored on their next two possessions. Kameron Curl's jumper resulted in a long rebound near midcourt for Balser, who passed ahead to Paddon for a three from the left side that put the Gators up eight with 5:20 to go.
The Jacks didn't go away though and cut the lead to two with under two to play. Jase Wickliffe found Jackson at the rim, who dunked it home but Justin Everett answered at the other end with a three that cut the lead to one with 1:25 to play. The Gators missed a field goal attempt, then Young got a second-chance dunk and was fouled to give the Jacks their first lead of the second half with less than a minute to go. He missed the free throw though and Williams grabbed the rebound. Jiday Ugbaja hit an off-balance three in front of the Gators bench with 37 seconds to go that put the Gators back up two. Jiday Ugbaja fouled Jackson near the sideline but, with the Jacks in the bonus, Jackson went to the line and made both to tie it with 16 seconds left. Jiday Ugbaja got the ball again and buried another three with five seconds to go. Up three, the Gators fouled with two seconds left. Jackson Strong made the first, then missed the second but Jackson came up with the rebound and was fouled. Jackson iced the game with a pair of free throws.
The Gators are the No. 4 seed in the CCAA Championships and will host a first-round game on Tuesday, March 5 at 7 p.m. versus No. 5 seed Cal State LA. General admission tickets are $10. Students with ID, senior, military (with valid ID), and children (6-17) are $5. For those following from home, SF State will provide live stats and video will for Tuesday's game. In-game updates and highlights will be provided by the team's Twitter account at @sfstate_mbb.
