RIVERSIDE, Calif. — After 619 days without a contest, the San Francisco State men's basketball team began its 2021-22 campaign with an 87-65 exhibition loss at California Baptist.

By the Numbers

• Toby Okwuokei led SF State with 14 points in his Gators debut. Jalen Chandler added 10 points. Jalen Flanagan had eight points, and Travis August had eight points off the bench.
• Eche Okeke had a team-high six rebounds.
• Okwuokei and Jacob Huynh each dished out four assists.
• All five CBU starters reached double digits, led by Chance Hunter's game-high 18 points and 11 rebounds. Reed Nottage added 16 points, a dozen of which came in the first half. Daniel Akin added 15, Ty Rowell had 14, and Taran Armstrong had 12 points.
• CBU shot 42 percent (29-of-69) from the field while the Gators were held to 36.6 percent (26-of-71).
• The Gators were outrebounded 55-35.
• California Baptist Head Coach Rick Croy is a San Francisco State alumnus. Croy ranks among the Top 10 in a number of categories still, including 10th all-time in total points (1,128) and second in career three-pointers made (147).
• The Lancers are picked to finish eighth in the 13-team WAC this season.
• CBU's Event Center, which opened in just 2017, similarly hadn't hosted fans in 619 days.

How it Happened

SF State was unable to overcome a 12-2 start by the Lancers. A reverse layup by Sean Orr stopped the run and the Gators went on to hold CBU scoreless for two minutes while going on a 7-0 run of their own. That cut the lead to six but the Lancers answered with a 5-0 run of their own to push the lead back to double digits. With under five minutes to go in the half, the Gators cut the lead to three thanks to a Jalen Flanagan bucket followed by a John Bakke layup from Flanagan. However, CBU finished the half on a 13-3 run and headed into the locker room with a 47-34 advantage.

The Gators cut the lead to 10 with under 16 minutes to play and still trailed by 10 with just over 12 minutes to go. Huynh dished to Alex Gilat for a layup with 8:18 to go that cut the lead to single digits but CBU worked the ball inside for a six-point run. The Lancers finished the game on an 18-5 run and went up by 23 late.
 

Up Next

The Gators head to Cal State Santa Barbara for a 7 p.m. exhibition versus the Gauchos on Wednesday, November 10. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and live stats will also be available at sfstategators.com.