HAYWARD, Calif. — On a rainy Thursday night in the Bay Area, the San Francisco State men's basketball team rained down three-pointer after three-pointer and matched a program record 16 makes en route to an 88-65 victory at Cal State East Bay.
- The 16 made threes came from eight different players and are the most since the Gators posted 16 in a win at Sonoma State on February 9, 2016. SF State also made 16 threes in a 32-point win versus Academy of Art in November 2011.
- The Gators (7-10/4-7 CCAA) have now won back-to-back games and have moved back into the playoff hunt. The Gators currently stand in a four-way tie for seventh, closing the gap on the struggling Pioneers (9-8/5-6 CCAA), who are losers of five straight.
- Five Gators reached double digits, led by 21 from DJ Sylvester. Linton Aclise III added 16 while Jacob Huynh, Jase Wickliffe, and Zane Paddon all chipped in 11 points apiece.
- Acliese turned in his fifth double-double of the season with a game-high 12 rebounds. He is currently third in the CCAA in scoring (17.8 ppg) and fourth in rebounding (7.6 rpg).
- Of the 61 shots attempted by SF State, 35 were from distance.
- The three-pointers made up for a disappointing night at the free throw line, where the Gators went just 14-of-30. The 30 attempts were a season high but the 46.7 percent was their second lowest of the season.
- Nai Carlisle had a team-high 15 points for the Pioneers. Evan Wardlow added 14 points in the loss.
- Josh Dhatt and Ant Navarrete, who had 19 points apiece when the Pioneers beat the Gators back in December, combined for just 13 points on Thursday.
San Francisco State used another quick start to take control and never looked back. The Gators raced out to a 9-2 lead thanks to three three-pointers taken in front of the Pioneers bench. That forced CSUEB to call a timeout with 18:01 on the clock. That didn't slow the Gators as Sylvester buried another three a minute later. The lead continued to grow and an Acliese three-ball made it 22-4, forcing another Pioneers timeout at 13:22. The Pioneers made a small run and cut the lead to 22-10 before Huynh hit yet another Gators three to push the lead back to 15.
The Pioneers trimmed the lead to seven but Acliese beat the buzzer wit a tip putback that sent the Gators into the locker room with a 40-31 advantage.
Sylvester hit threes from both sides of the floor interspersed with a midrange fade-away for eight straight Gators points and a sudden 56-39 lead.
The threes kept coming. Wickliffe hit one, then Sylvester was fouled in the corner and finished the four-point play to make it 63-41 with 13:36 to go.
There was little worry after that and the lead grew to as large as 26 late.
The Gators head south to Cal State Monterey Bay (6-11/3-8 CCAA) on Saturday, January 18 for a 3 p.m. game. The will be available via pay per view on the CCAA Network and live stats will be free at sfstategators.com.
