ROHNERT PARK, Calif. – The San Francisco State men's basketball team dropped an 85-78 decision to Holy Names on Saturday in the first day of the Ron Logsdon Basketball Classic presented by Cambria Hotel Sonoma Wine Country.
- SF State falls to 3-2 on the season while the Hawks improve to 3-3. The game marked the first-ever win for Holy Names over the Gators. The series matchup concludes at 7-1, as Holy Names announced last week the discontinuation of its Athletics program at the end of the 2022-23 season.
- Jonah Roth has increased his scoring output every game this season and posted a season-high 23 points to lead the Gators. Roth now leads the Gators with 14.2 points per game and also grabbed seven rebounds.
- Eche Okeke added a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
- Toby Okwuokei reached double digits yet again with 11 points.
- Roman Behrens led all players with 31 points on 10-of-13 shooting, including four three-pointers for the Hawks. Carter Plousha and Grant Johnson both added 11 points apiece for HNU.
- The Gators shot 54.3 percent (19-of-35) in the first half but the Hawks answered with 61.5 percent (16-of-33) in the second half.
- SF State won the rebounding battle 35-31, marking the first time this season the Gators have lost when winning the rebounding battle.
- The game was tied 12 times and there were 10 lead changes.
The first half was a tight back-and-forth affair with eigh ties and eight lead changes coming in the first 20 minutes. Okeke scored the game's first bucket but the Hawks answered with the next six points. The Gators scored their next three baskets, all in the paint, to go back up two. The teams traded the lead and the Hawks went up five points out of the 12-minute media timeout. SF State countered with a 9-0 run and took a 23-20 lead, though the Hawks again answered quickly to tie the game. SF State eventually grew its lead to eight, 32-26, when an Okeke outlet led to an Okwuokei fastbreak layup with 2:34 to go in the half. However, the Hawks cut the lead to two, 46-44, at the half.
Alex Gilat and Okeke grew the lead back to six to start the second half but the Hawks tied the game at 15:30 on a Behrens jumper, then took the lead 40 seconds later on another Behrens bucket. That sparked a 6-0 Hawks run and the Gators finally tied the game back at the six-minute mark, 65-65. The Hawks grew the lead right back to six. A Roth steal led to another fastbreak layup for Okwuokei and cut the lead to two but HNU answered with back-to-back threes from Jacob Smith and Plousha that forced an SF State timeout. Behrens stretched the lead to 12 with under a minute to go. The Gators scored the final five points but time expired.
The Gators wrap up the Ron Logsdon Basketball Classic presented by Cambria Hotel Sonoma Wine Country on Sunday, November 27 versus Fresno Pacific at 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the CCAA Network with live stats available at sfstategators.com. In-game updates will also available on Twitter at @sfstate_mbb, pending platform availability. Tickets are available at sfstategators.com/tickets.
Mark your calendars for Purple Out on Thursday, December 1 when the Gators open CCAA action versus Cal State San Bernardino. The first 500 fans that night will receive a purple SF State T-shirt.
