SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco State men's basketball team was picked 11th in the CCAA preseason coaches poll yet the Gators found themselves battling for a playoff spot into the final week of the season. Unfortunately for the Gators, hopes of extending the season ended on Thursday in a 91-75 loss to No. 6 Cal State San Bernardino.
- The Coyotes (21-2/15-2 CCAA), the No. 2 team in the West Region, are in first place in the CCAA standings. The Gators (11-15/8-11 CCAA) loss, coupled with Cal Poly Pomona's 71-68 win at Cal State Monterey Bay, drops the Gators into seventh place with one game remaining. The Broncos own a .500 winning percentage in CCAA play and can finish with no lower than .470 while the Gators can finish with no higher than .450 with a win on Saturday.
- The Coyotes beat the Gators on the glass, 46-33. Fourteen of CSUSB's rebounds were offensive, which led to 25 second-chance points.
- Sean Orr led the Gators with 15 points and was one of four SF State players to reach double digits. Eche Okeke added 14 points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. Jalen Flanagan and Toby Okwuokei netted 12 points apiece but did so on 10-of-31 shooting.
- The Gators distributed the ball well, dishing out 15 assists. Jacob Huynh made a game-high six assists, one shy of his career-high, followed by five from Okwuokei.
- Daytone Jennings led all players with 29 points and nine rebounds. Darius Lubom added 15 points, Brandon Knapper had 13 points, and Kaijae Yee-Stephens added a dozen points.
SF State jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first minute, which forced a Coyotes timeout. CSUSB responded out of the timeout and rattled of a 10-0 run from which the Gators never recovered. The lead grew to double digits with ten and a half minutes left in the first half, though the Gators trimmed the lead to three on back-to-back threes from Okeke and Orr, and a pair of Orr free throws. The Gators rallied still and tied the game at 24-24 at the seven-minute mark on a pair of Okeke free throws. Still, the Coyotes regained the lead and grew the lead back to a dozen before closing out the half with a 43-34 advantage. The Gators trimmed the lead to seven in the second half but also saw the deficit grow to as large as 18.
The Gators will honor senior Sean Orr in a pregame ceremony on Saturday, February 26 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.
