CHICO, Calif. — The San Francisco State men's basketball team led for over 40 minutes but ultimately fell 82-79 in overtime to No. 14 Chico State on Saturday night at Art Acker Gymnasium.
- The Gators drop to 11-12 overall and back to .500 in CCAA play at 8-8 but remain in sixth place. The second-place Warriors improve to 15-3 overall and 11-3 in conference action.
- Jalen Flanagan's eclipsed Thursday's career-high 20 point performance with 21 points and a team-high nine rebounds in 34 minutes on Saturday.
- Sean Orr added 15 points, Toby Okwuokei had 12 points, and Eche Okeke chipped in 10 points.
- Colby Orr was one of five Chico State players to reach double digit scoring and led the Wildcats with 20 points. Kevin Warren and Joshua Hamilton each scored 13 points, Malik Duffy added a dozen, and Isaiah Brooks scored 11 points.
- The Gators were outrebounded 54-44, which led to 13 second chance points for Chico State. Duffy led all players with 13 and Warren reeled in 11 rebounds, giving both double-doubles.
- Both teams scored 32 points in the paint.
Sean Orr scored the game's first five points and the Gators quickly led by seven. Okwuokei's layup with under 10 to go in the first half made it a nine-point Gators lead. The Gators even led by as much as 11 thanks to
Travis August's three-pointer inside two minutes of the half, and SF State headed into the half up 37-30.
Out of the last media timeout, Okwuokei worked the ball into Flanagan at the post, who turned and nailed the hook shot to keep the Gators up by six. However,
Zebaniah Jackson fouled out at the other end and the Wildcats capitalized. Warren made both free throws to pull Chico State within four, and Hamilton made one to pull the Wildcats within three. Colby Orr drove down the lane and drew contact but missed the free throw with 1:16 left and the Gators up a point. The Wildcats were forced to foul and sent Okwuokei to the line with 25.1 on the clock. He made the first free throw to keep the Gators up two but Hamilton stepped on the three-point line tied it with a fadeaway jumper with 4.5 seconds remaining on the clock. Okwuokei's last-ditch shot in regulation came up short and action headed to overtime.
In overtime, Colby Orr's reverse layup in transition with 1:17 to play knotted the game at 79-79. The Gators turned the ball over and Orr got to the rim again to give the Wildcats the lead, 81-79. This time the Gators were forcd to foul and Brooks made one of two to make it 82-79. The Gators missed their final two shot attempts in the last minute overtime.
"To be ahead in a game for more than 40 minutes and leave is a loss is pretty rough. Credit to Chico State for making some tough shots down the stretch to get back into it," said Head Coach Vince Inglima. "This group has something special. I can feel that all these setbacks are toward a great end. We just need to keep working."
San Francisco State will look to create a bit more space in the conference standings on Thursday, February 17 at Cal State East Bay (8-12/6-8 CCAA). Tipoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. and 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.
