DENVER — The San Francisco State men's basketball team faced Regis for the first time in program history on Thursday but came up short, 78-75, at Regis Field House.

By the Numbers

 

• The Gators shot a season-high 47.5 percent (29-of-61) but the game was won at the free throw line.
• Regis was 23-of-32 at the free throw line while the Gators were 9-of-13.
• SF State committed 24 fouls, including two technicals. Two Gators had three fouls and another fouled out. Meanwhile, Regis committed 16 fouls.
• Regis won the rebounding battle, 40-35.
• The Gators also allowed 22 fast break points but outscored their opponent in the paint, 36-32.
• Toby Okwuokei led all players with a season-high 26 points on 11-of-21 shooting. He also pulled in six rebounds.
• Sean Orr added 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting and Jalen Flanagan had eight points.
• Eche Okeke grabbed a team-high eight rebounds for the Gators prior to fouling out.
• Eddy Egun led the Rangers with 16 points. Troy Brady added 13 points and Ilisia Washington had a dozen.

How it Happened

Orr got the Gators off to a hot start and the Gators led by five in the first four minutes. The Gators grew the lead to a dozen at the eight-minute mark and later used an 8-0 run to grow the lead to as large as 15 points with under four minutes to go in the first half. The Rangers trimmed the lead to five at the end of the half.

SF State still led by 10 with eight minutes left in regulation. However, Washington hit a three-ball with under six minutes left that cut the lead to five. At the two-minute mark, Kevin Ebiriekwe scored a driving layup to trim the Gators' lead to three. The Gators missed a three-point attempt and the Rangers scored off an offensive rebound to pull within a point with 1:14 to play. The Gators called timeout but missed another three-pointer out of the huddle. Will Cranston-Lown scored another second-chance bucket to give the Rangers the lead, 76-75. The Gators forced a shot with .9 left on the clock and were forced to foul on the rebound. Egun sank both free throws to secure the win for Regis.
 

Quotables

"Obviously disappointing to lose a game that you lead for 39 minutes. Our group is still learning how to win this type of game. We had some mental lapses and lost our composure a couple times in the second half," said Head Coach Vince Inglima. "You can't expect to beat good teams on the road like that. That said, I am proud of our overall effort, and I believe we are continuing to get better with every outing."
 

Up Next

The Gators wrap up the road trip at MSU Denver on Saturday, November 20. That's an early-morning game and will tip off at 10 a.m. MT / 9 a.m. PT. The games will be broadcast on the RMAC Network with live stats available at sfstategators.com. Live updates will also be provided on the SF State Men's Basketball Twitter account, @sfstate_mbb.