SAN FRANCISCO — Linton Acliese III poured in a career-high 32 points but the San Francisco State men's basketball team fell in the final seconds, 81-79, to Stanislaus State on Saturday night in Fitzpatrick Arena.
- Acliese's 32 points and game-high 10 rebounds gave him his seventh double-double of the season. He moved into second in the CCAA in scoring with 18.2 points per game, just behind UC San Diego's Tyrell Roberts (18.5 points per game). Acliese is also fifth in the CCAA in rebounding with 7.6 per game.
- No other Gator reached double digits. Eche Okeke was the next highest scorer for the Gators with eight points. Three others had seven points apiece.
- Vida Faniel led the Warriors with 18 points. Ty Davis added 17 and Xavier Francois scored 13.
- With the loss, SF State (9-16/6-13 CCAA) is on the outside looking in when it comes to the CCAA standings and playoff picture. The top eight teams advance to the postseason and the Gators are currently in 11th place with three games to play. Stan State (15-10/11-9 CCAA) sits in sixth place.
- The Gators were held to 32 percent (8-of-25) in the first half while the Warriors went 60 percent (15-of-25) from the field.
SF State fell behind 7-0 in the first two minutes but rallied to take an 18-17 lead with an Acliese layup just under the eight-minute mark. The Gators trailed by four after a pair of Acliese free throws with three and a half minutes to play but the Warriors blew the lead open thanks to a 9-2 run.
Sean Orr's layup beat the buzzer and kept the Gators within nine, 39-30, at the half.
SF State was outscored 24-10 in the paint in the first half but the two teams both finished with 40 points apiece in the paint. The Gators cut the Warriors lead to one and forced a Stan State timeout with 13:33 to play. The Gators tied it just inside the 11-minute mark on an Acliese bucket and the took a three-point lead inside the 10-minute mark on a
Jacob Huynh three-point play. However, the Warriors answered yet again. Down five with a minute to go, the Gators kept fighting. Acliese made a pair of free throws, then hit a three-pointer with 17 seconds left that tied the game at 79-79. Acliese was forced to foul with three seconds left and Xavier Francois made both free throws. Acliese missed a three,
Jase Wickliffe missed a putback, then had a third-chance opportunity blocked as time ran out.
The Gators head to Chico State on Thursday, February 20 for their final regular season road game. Tipoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast by Chico State and live stats will be available at
sfstategators.com.
