HAYWARD, Calif. — The San Francisco State men's basketball team came up clutch at the free throw line when it counted and squeezed out a 53-49 win on Thursday night at Cal State East Bay.
- Eche Okeke led all players with 16 points and 11 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season. The 11 rebounds matched a season-high.
- Jonah Roth added 11 points and seven rebounds.
- Toby Okwuokei got back into the offensive groove with 10 points. Okwuokei scored in double digits in seven of his first eight games of the season but entering Thursday, hadn't reached that plateau in his last half dozen games.
- Grady Lewis and Ramsey Huff led the Pioneers with 11 points apiece.
- CSUEB committed 20 turnovers, which marked the fourth time this season an SF State opponent has committed 20 or more turnovers.
- SF State overcame a poor shooting night from three-point land. Inside the arc, SF State went 18-for-32 but they shot just 36.4 percent (20-of-55) from the field due to 2-of-23 (8.7 percent) shooting from behind the arc with both made threes coming in the first half. The Gators' saving grace came at the free throw line, where SF State went 73.3 percent (11-of-15) for the game, including 10-of-13 in the second half.
- Cal State East Bay had an even worse shooting night at 35.2 percent (19-of-54) and made it to the free throw line just nine times, including 0-for-2 in the second half.
- The Pioneers edged the Gators 39-36 in the rebounding battle.
The Gators jumped out to a 6-0 lead but proceeded to suffer a four-minute cold spell that allowed the Pioneers to take the lead. Down two,
John Bakke dished to
Caleb Oden to tie the game 10-10. With the game tied at 14-14, Roth hit a three-pointer and finished a putback a few plays later to give SF State a five-point advantage. However, the Pioneers regained the lead when Tim Andreolli drained back-to-back threes, and their lead grew to five with a bucket from Payden White and a layup from Lewis. Okeke hit a buzzer-beater at the end of the first half that should have sent the Gators into the locker room down just 27-25, though a scoring discrepancy credited White's jumper as a three-pointer for a 28-25 Pioneers lead.
Lewis started off the half with a Pioneers score, then SF State responded with a 13-0 run that gave them a 36-30 lead. The Gators went up eight on an Okwuokei basket but the Pioneers would not go away. Huff and Andreolli cut the lead to four with back-to-back jumpers. Roth and Bellamy each made one free throw on a pair of possessions that pushed the lead back to two possessions but Chris James scored three straight Pioneers buckets that tied the game at 47-47 with 1:38 to go. The Gators were clutch at the free throw line and Okeke and
Jalen Flanagan went a combined 6-for-6 in the final minute. The Gators conceded a shot from the right elbow to Huff that beat the buzzer to end the game.
SF State heads to Cal State Dominguez Hills for a 3 p.m. matinee on Saturday, January 14 at the Torodome in Carson. Tickets are available at gotoros.com/tickets. 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.
