DENVER — The San Francisco State men's basketball team led 35-34 at halftime but fell 71-61 at MSU Denver on Saturday in the Auraria Event Center.

By the Numbers

• Eche Okeke was the only SF State starter in double digits with 11 points. Jacob Huynh and Travis August came off the bench with 10 points apiece. Toby Okwuokei added eight points and a team-high 10 rebounds.
• Ra'Shawn Lingston led all players with 16 points for the Roadrunners. Miles Gibson and Laolu Oke both added double-doubles with 15 points and 14 rebounds, and 13 points and 15 rebounds, respectively.
• The Gators were shorthanded with Sam Kramer, who started on Thursday at Regis, and Alex Gilat both inactive for the game.
• SF State shot 36.4 percent (24-of-66) from the field. The Gators shot 42.9 percent in the first half but just 29 percent in the second half. The Gators held MSU Denver to 38.1 percent (24-of-63) from the field.
• The difference yet again came at the free throw line. The Gators were 7-of-7 at the charity stripe but the Roadrunners drew 20 fouls and went 14-of-20 at the free throw line.
• The rebounding battle was fairly even with the Roadrunners holding a slight 44-43 advantage.

How it Happened

After missing their first two shots, the Gators raced out to a 10-3 lead. The lead grew to as large as 11 with 12:47 to go in the first half but the Roadrunners answered with a 10-run. The Gators called timeout and Okeke made a layup out of the huddle. August made a couple of three-pointers to keep the Gators ahead but the Roadrunners answered yet again with a couple of buckets that cut Gators' lead to one at the half.

SF State went cold to start the second half and the Roadrunners took control with a 10-0 run over that span. Mikey Robinson Jr. hit a three-pointer but another seven-point run by the Roadrunners found the Gators down double digits. SF State cut the lead to five with just under two minutes to play but that's as close as the Gators got.
 

Up Next

The Gators head to Holy Names in Oakland for their next two games. SF State plays the host Hawks on Friday, November 26 at 7 p.m. and Fresno Pacific on Saturday, November 27 at 5 p.m. The games will be broadcast by HNU with live stats available at sfstategators.com. Live updates will also be provided on the SF State Men's Basketball Twitter account, @sfstate_mbb.