ARCATA, Calif. — The San Francisco State men's basketball team needed overtime but won its CCAA opener on Thursday night at Lumberjack Arena. The Gators outlasted Humboldt State 84-80 and in doing so handed the Lumberjacks their first loss of the season.
- The Gators (3-4/1-0 CCAA) have have won seven of their last eight contests vs. the Lumberjacks (5-1/0-1 CCAA).
- Five Gators scored in double digits for the first time since an 88-65 win at Cal State East Bay on January 17, 2020.
- Eche Okeke led the Gators with 14 points. Travis August, Toby Okwuokei, and Sean Orr all had 13 points apiece. Jalen Chandler added a dozen points in the win.
- Okwuokei notched a career-high 16 rebounds and Jalen Flanagan reeled in nine as the Gators won the rebounding battle 45-39.
- The 16 rebounds were the most in the program since Brantley Bynum pulled down 15 in the Gators' double-overtime win in the first round of the 2018 CCAA Tournament.
- Will Johnson led all players with 20 points for the Lumberjacks. AJ Sims added 16 points, and Jaden Edwards and Thomas Melonja scored 11 points apiece in the loss. Edwards made it a double-double with a team-high 11 rebounds.
- SF State won despite their poorest shooting night of the season at the free throw line. The Gators were just 21-of-34 (61.8 percent) and had a chance to win the game in regulation. The Gators reached the free throw line 24 more times than HSU, which didn't attempt a free throw in the first half.
- The Gators scored 23 second-chance points and scored 30 points in the paint.
The Gators led 35-31 at halftime but things got interesting in the second half.
Bryson Ryan was called for a flagrant one but Cam Timmons missed both free throws. The Lumberjacks retained possession and a poor inbounds pass led to an August steal. August stepped out on the sideline though and
Mikey Robinson Jr. dunked after the play was whistled dead. Robinson was whistled for a technical foul for pulling up on the rim, resulting in a Will Johnson free throw. The Lumberjacks took the lead on a Bryce Mitchell three from the left wing. The lead continued to exchange hands but an 11-2 run over a two-minute span gave HSU a 59-50 lead with under 10 minutes to play. The Gators cut the lead to three and a Robinson three-pointer tied the game at 61-61 with 6:11 to go.
A minute later, Timmons was called for an offensive foul on a screen of Robinson. The 6-foot-11, 295 lb. Timmons touched the official to argue and was whistled for the technical foul, his fifth and disqualifying foul. Chandler made both free throws and the Gators retained possession.
Okeke dunked and was fouled with 26.5 seconds left in regulation but missed the free throw. SF State had a foul to give and it worked to their advantage as Melonja was whistled for a five-second call. Okeke sent the Gators up by one again but Mitchell answered with a putback and drew the foul with 6.7 seconds remaining. He made both free throws but Okwuokei flew down the court and was fouled on the way to the rim. He made his first free throw but missed the second, then had a second-chance opportunity rim out and the game headed to overtime.
August made a three-pointer but the Lumberjacks went up one. The Gators went back up one and Okeke came up with a monster block that resulted in an HSU shot clock violation. However, Okeke fouled out with 2:05 left and AJ Sims made both free throws to put HSU back up one. Okwuokei got a defensive rebound and was fouled with 1:31. He made his back-end free throw, then got a rebound at the other end and went right to rim for the score and a two-point Gators lead. However, HSU went to the free throw line also and Sims made both to tie the game at 80-80 with 51.1 on the clock. A Flanagan drive and turn around jumper put the Gators back up with 21 seconds left.
Okwuokei came up with another rebound and was fouled. This time, he made both free throws to give the SF State its final four-point advantage.
"Gritty win for the guys tonight. To fight back from a nine-point deficit against a good team on the road shows a lot of character," said Head Coach Vnce Inglima. "We really played together on both ends of the court with many guys making key plays for us at various times."
San Francisco State heads back from Arcata and will make a stop at Sonoma State on Saturday, December 4 for a 3 p.m. matchup. The game will be broadcast free on the CCAA Network with live stats available at sfstategators.com. Beginning in 2022, the CCAA Network will be moving to a subscription-based model at $9.95 per month. Updates will also be available on Twitter at @sfstate_mbb.
.
