CHICO, Calif. — The San Francisco State men's basketball team's playoff hopes diminished once more with an 80-69 loss at Chico State on Thursday night in Art Acker Gymnasium.

By the Numbers

 

• The Gators' (9-18/6-14 CCAA) playoff hopes diminished with their seventh loss in the last eight games. They'll need to win their next two games and will also need help from other teams across the league in order to stay alive. Seven teams are fighting for the final four spots in the CCAA Championships.
• Chico State (19-6/14-5 CCAA) had already secured its postseason berth but moves into third place in the CCAA standings.
• Linton Acliese III, coming off of CCAA Player of the Week honors, led all players with 25 points but was forced into seven turnovers.
• Zane Paddon added 13 points with three three-pointers.
• Jase Wickliffe scored eight points and Jacob Huynh had seven but no other Gator had more than four points.
• Four Chico State players reached double digits, led by Malik Duffy's 16 points.

How it Happened

SF State fell behind 12-5 in the first five minutes. The Gators trimmed the lead to three but the deficit ballooned to 13 just as quickly. Justin Brigg's layup with under a minute to go in the half gave Chico State a 20-point lead but Paddon hit a three-pointer and Acliese scored a layup with four seconds to go to cut the halftime deficit to 15.

SF State shot 51.85 percent (14-of-27) in the second half and outscored Chico State by four but it wasn't enough to overcome the slow first half. The Gators quickly cut the lead to 10 to begin the half, then got the deficit to single digits on Acliese's jumper at the 17-minute mark. A couple of minutes later, Michael Diaz worked his way into the paint and cut the lead to six to make it a two-possession ballgame. The Gators still trailed by six with eight and a half minutes to go but the Wildcats rattled off an 8-2 run to regain a double-digit advantage. The Gators never got closer than 10 points the rest of the way.
 

Up Next

The Gators return home for their final two games of the season, on Thursday, February 27 versus Cal State Dominguez Hills, and on Saturday, February 29 versus Cal State LA. Both doubleheaders will be streamed on the CCAA Network and live stats will also be available at sfstategators.com.