LOS ANGELES – The San Francisco State men's basketball team is still in search of its first CCAA win after dropping an 84-66 decision to Cal State LA on Saturday at University Gym.
- The Gators started off 4-2 but have lost their last four games, all in CCAA action. The Golden Eagles improve to 6-5 overall and 3-2 in CCAA action.
- Eche Okeke led the Gators with a career-high 20 points and now leads the team in scoring. Jonah Roth added 12 points, Jalen Flanagan had 10 points, and Toby Okwuokei had eight points.
- Dominic Escobar led all players with 26 points for the Golden Eagles. Alexander Sokol had 19 points in the win.
- SF State continued to dominate on the glass and won the rebounding battle 43-37. Ten different Gators had a rebound with Okwuokei notching a team-high seven.
- SF State also turned the ball over fewer times than its opponent, 16-14.
- Devon Jackson, coming off of an injury, made his first appearance of the season. The sophomore guard scored four points, grabbed six rebounds, and had an assist in 12 minutes of action.
The Golden Eagles led wire-to-wire, though the Gators stayed close early in the first half. The Gators trailed by just one after 12 minutes of play but the Golden Eagles used a seven-point run to open up the game and take a 22-14 lead. The Gators trimmed the deficit to six but the Golden Eagles responded with yet another seven-point run that pushed their lead to double digits. The deficit grew to as large as 19 before Okeke finished the half with a layup, sending the Gators into the locker room down 42-25.
Sokol and Escobar hit back-to-back threes, and Escobar hit a jumper that pushed the LA lead to 25 just over two minutes into second-half action. SF State strung together its best offensive spurt of the night with the next 10 points over the span of just 1:11. Okeke hit a jumper, then found Flanagan for a three, and Roth finished off the run with pair of free throws and a three-pointer. At the other end, the Gators got a stop, forced a turnover, and drew an offensive foul. The Gators got as close as 13 at the three-minute mark.
The Gators face Cal State Monterey Bay for their next two contests. SF State travels to Seaside for a game on Monday, December 19 at 3 p.m., then hosts the Otters to close out the calendar year on Saturday, December 31, also at 3 p.m. Both games 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.
