LOS ANGELES — The San Francisco State men's basketball team wrapped up a tough road trip with a disappointing 87-72 loss at Cal State LA on Saturday.
- Despite the loss, SF State (8-11/5-7 CCAA) remains in sixth place in the conference standings while Cal State LA (6-9/3-6 CCAA) stands in eighth place behind Cal Poly Humboldt.
- Toby Okwuokei led the Gators with 17 points to go along with five rebounds, an assist, and a pair of steals. Sean Orr added 13 points with a couple of three-pointers, five rebounds, and an assist. Eche Okeke added a dozen points with a team-high seven rebounds and two assists. Zion Jackson scored nine points and six rebounds, two assists, and a block.
- Jalen Chandler, who entered play second on the team with 11.6 points per game, was held to three points in the loss.
- Dominic Escobar led all players with 21 points and rounded that out with four rebounds, three assists, four steals, and a block. Alexander Sokol added 17 points with five three pointers. Andrease Jackson chipped in 15 points and led all players with nine rebounds. Lyrik Shreiner rounded out Cal State LA players in double digits with 13 points.
- Cal State LA shot 50 percent (15-of-30) in the first half and shot even better in the second half at 70 percent (14-of-20) for 58 percent (29-of-50) on the day.
The Gators couldn't overcome a slow first half in which they shot just 26.5 percent (9-of-34), including 2-of-13 from deep.
Zebaniah Jackson's dunk at the 12-minute mark cut LA's lead to three but Cal State LA answered with three consecutive three-pointers. Orr stopped the bleeding with an offensive rebound and banked in a second-chance opportunity. Sokol hit his fourth three of the game and Jackson scored a three-point play to make it a 16-point Golden Eagles advantage. The Gators drew 11 LA fouls in the first half and stayed in the game thanks to 11-of-17 shooting at the charity stripe. However, Chandler also picked up his third foul with under two minutes to go.
The 12-point halftime deficit ballooned to 17 before the Gators scored. SF State chipped away though and exploded for a 12-point run to pull within five inside the 15-minute mark. The Golden Eagles responded with a 9-0 run, prompting an SF State timeout with 12:20 to play. The Gators never got closer than 10 points the rest of the way.
San Francisco State looks to rebound in a pair of upcoming home games on Thursday, February 3 at 7:30 p.m. vs. Sonoma State (3-17/3-11 CCAA) and on Saturday, February 5 at 3 p.m. vs. Cal Poly Humboldt (9-8/4-8 CCAA). Due to ongoing pandemic precautions, the games will be closed to the general public but will be broadcast on the CCAA Network with live stats available at sfstategators.com. Updates will also be available on Twitter at @sfstate_mbb.
