SAN MARCOS, Calif. — The San Francisco State men's basketball team took a second-half lead but No. 6 Cal State San Marcos pulled away late and went on to edge the Gators, 75-68, on Thursday evening at the Sports Center.
- The Gators (8-10/5-6 CCAA) remain in sixth place in the conference standings while Cal State San Marcos (14-1) sits atop the CCAA standings at 10-1.
- SF State shot the ball well at 44.4 percent (24-of-54) but CSUSM was even better at 50 percent (29-of-58). The Gators did outshoot the Cougars from deep at a clip of 39.1 percent (9-of-23) compared to 36.8 percent (7-of-19).
- CSUSM won the rebounding battle, 33-28.
- Jalen Chandler scored a team-high 17 points.
- Jalen Flanagan was 6-of-9 from the field and was 3-of-3 from deep en route to a career-high 16 points.
- Sean Orr added 15 points on 4-of-7 shooting and also made three pointers.
- Toby Okwuokei scored eight points and dished out a season-high four assists.
- Eche Okeke scored six points and led the Gators with nine rebounds.
- Greg Milton III led all players with 21 points for the Cougars. Jayce McCain added 13 points and Lyle Sutton added 11 points for CSUSM.
- The Gators limited the Cougars' leading scorer Blake Seits, to four points, well under his 14.9 points per game.
The G
ators spotted the Cougars a five-point lead and saw the deficit grow to nine before tying the game at 23-23 on Orr's first three-pointer of the night. However, the Cougars answered with five straight point. Orr hit another three to keep it a one-possession game but CSUSM finished the half on a 9-3 run for a 37-29 halftime lead.
CSUSM extended the lead to 10 to begin the half. The Gators scored the next seven points and pulled within three on another Orr three-pointer. Sean Dunn scored a putback, then had a steal and a bucket to push the Cougars lead back to seven. Orr made a pair of free throws, an Okeke steal led to a Chandler dunk, and Flanagan came up with a defensive board and knocked down the three at the other end to the time at 43-43 with 15 minutes to play. A Flanagan steal led to an Okwuokei layup and the Gators led 45-43 thanks to the 9-0 run. The lead didn't hold though. The Gators got a stop but turned the ball over and Alex Gil-Fernandez tied the game and gave CSUSM the lead on a fast break three-point play. The Gators went scoreless for three and a half minutes and the deficit ballooned to 11. Jacob Huynh pulled the Gators to within five points with two and a half to go with four straight points. SF State had a couple of chances to pull to within a possession but threes didn't fall and McCain made four free throws down the stretch to keep the Cougars in front.
San Francisco State looks for the series sweep and its fourth straight over Cal State LA (5-9/2-6 CCAA) on Saturday, January 29 at 3 p.m. 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.
