SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco State men's basketball team saw its three-game win streak snapped in a narrow 60-56 loss to No. 7 Chico State on Thursday night at the Main Gym at Don Nasser Family Plaza.
- The Gators (7-9/4-5 CCAA) sit in sixth place in the conference standings while the nationally-ranked Wildcats (11-1/7-1 CCAA) bounce back from an overtime loss to move into a tie for second place in the CCAA.
- Toby Okwuokei led the Gators with 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds with a pair of blocks. Jalen Chandler added 11 points and Jalen Flanagan finished with nine points and a team-high nine rebounds.
- The Wildcats, who were without two of their starters, were led by Colby Orr's game-high 18 points. Kevin Warren added 14 points and Malik Duffy scored 11 points.
- Kelvin Wright Jr. added eight points and a team-high nine rebounds for the Wildcats.
- SF State won the rebounding battle 41-32 and had four players with six or more boards.
The Gators led 11-9 early but a 9-0 Wildcats run turned the tables, 18-11. The deficit grew to as large as 13 and the Gators trailed 35-23 at the break.
SF State scored the first five points of the second half and a Chandler three-pointer at the 16-minute mark pulled the Gators within two points. The Wildcats answered with the next six points but the Gators kept it close. Mikey Robinson hit a three-pointer and finished a driving and-one to keep it a two-point affair with under 12 minutes to play. The Gators tied it up with 8:58 to play thanks to a pair of Flanagan free throws but Chico State regained the lead 20 seconds later on Warren's three-pointer. SF State erased a five-point deficit on a Chandler jumper and
Sean Orr's three-pointer tied things at 54-54.
Tied at 56-56, the Gators had a couple of chances to take the lead but couldn't convert. The Gators fouled with 1:04 to go and Duffy made both free throws. SF State turned the ball over out of a timeout and were forced to foul with 13 seconds remaining. Colby Orr sank both free throws to make it a two-possession game.
"You can't beat a top 10 team in the country by only playing one good half. For as tentatively as we played on both be ends of the court in the first half, it was good to see us right back and take the lead in the second," said Head Coach Vince Inglima. "Just didn't have enough in the tank to finish the game."
San Francisco State concludes the five-game homestand on Saturday, January 20 at 3 p.m. versus Stanislaus State. The game will be broadcast on the CCAA Network with live stats available at sfstategators.com. Updates will also be available on Twitter at @sfstate_mbb.
