SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco State men's basketball team returned from three weeks on the road and gave Gators fans plenty to cheer about on the team's return to the Main Gym at Don Nasser Family Plaza on Thursday night. Toby Okwuokei hit a three-pointer with .3 seconds remaining to secure an 82-80 victory over Cal State LA.
- The Gators (4-5/2-1 CCAA) are now 10-1 versus the Golden Eagles (2-7/0-4 CCAA) over the team's last 11 meetings dating back to 2017.
- Okwuokei led SF State with 18 points and was one of four Gators to reach double digits. Jalen Chandler tallied 15 points. Jalen Flanagan and Sean Orr each added 10 points apiece, and Orr notched a double-double with a career-high 11 rebounds, and also dished out a team-high four assists.
- Elisha Duplechan led all players with 20 points and Alexander Sokol added 19 points in the loss. Shane Bell scored out 13 points and Adrease Jackson rounded out Golden Eagles in double digits with a double-double (11 points, 10 rebounds).
- SF State shot 40.6 (28-of-69) from the field, including 39.3 percent (11-of-28) from three-point land.
- The Gators won the rebounding battle 43-35.
- SF State wore purple at home as part of the team's annual Purple Out game.
With the game tied at 79-79, Okwuokei came open off a screen on the left side and swished a three with .3 seconds remaining. The Gators were assessed a technical foul for running onto the court to celebrate and Sokol made a free throw but luckily that was of little consequence as the Golden Eagles failed to get a shot off on time from the inbounds.
After trailing at the half, the Gators took the lead 48-47 at the 18-minute mark on a
Travis August three-ball from the left side.
From there, the Gators pushed the lead to seven at the 11-minute mark. With the shot clock winding down,
Jacob Huynh buried a corner three-ball, then came up with a steal and layup that grew the lead to nine.
However, Cal State LA countered with a 10-0 run and regained the lead with just over six minutes to go. The lead bounced back and forth but neither team led by more than three the rest of the way. Up one with 19 seconds remaining, Huynh subbed in and was fouled on the inbounds. He made both of his free throws but Duplechan answered at the other end with a three-pointer that knotted the game at 79-79 with 10 seconds remaining.
The Gators built a 10-point lead in the first three minutes and led by as many as 11 in the first half. The Golden Eagles used a six-point run to keep the game within reach and eventually tied the game at the five-minute mark on a Jackson layup. Sokol hit a three-pointer at the two-minute mark that gave Cal State LA its first lead since the first 70 seconds. Cal State LA grew its lead to six but Chandler halved the deficit with a three-pointer and 10 seconds on the clock before halftime, and the Gators went into halftime trailing 44-41.
"This was a hard fought win tonight, we made the big plays when we needed them. The game-winner by Toby is just one of those moments that make team sports so much fun. He made an amazing shot, but we all feel like we were part of it," said Head Coach
Vince Inglima. "We have shown repeatedly that we can bounce back from tough losses, but now we need to learn how to build upon big wins as well. Excited to get back to work!"
San Francisco State hosts first-place Cal State San Marcos (8-0/4-0 CCAA) on Saturday, December 11 at 3 p.m. The game will also 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.
The Division of Campus Safety, in partnership with the San Francisco Firefighters' Toy Program, requests your support in collecting donations for new and unwrapped toys to bring smiles to children this holiday season. A donation box will be available at Saturday's doubleheader. If you're unable to stop by and prefer to donate virtually, donations are accepted by visiting sffirefighterstoys.org.
