ROHNERT PARK, Calif. — The San Francisco State men's basketball team dropped the season series to Sonoma State on Saturday night with a 69-60 loss inside the Wolves' Den.
- The Gators slip to 9-11 overall and 5-9 in CCAA action while the Seawolves move to 9-11 overall and 8-6 in CCAA action, tied for third place with Cal Poly Humboldt.
- Eche Okeke led the Gators with 15 points and eight rebounds. Toby Okwuokei and Jonah Roth each added 11 points. CJ Bellamy had nine points with three three-pointers.
- Jaylen Wells and Austin Fadal both scored 20 points for the Seawolves. Pierce Rexford added 16 points and Dillon Iyawe chipped in a double-double with 10 points and a game-high 16 rebounds.
- SF State shot 46.4 percent (13-of-28) in the first half but cooled off in the second half, going just 9-of-28 (32.1 percent) for 39.3 percent for the game. The Gators shot the ball well from deep, going 43.5 percent on 10-of-23 shooting. That marked the fifth time this season that the Gators have made 10 or more threes. this season.
- Conversely, SSU went just 9-of-28 (32.1 percent) in the first half but heated up later in the game, going 16-of-33 (48.5 percent) in the second half to finish at 41 percent.
- Rebounding, which had been a strong point much of the season, was an issue for SF State on Saturday as the Gators were outrebounded 40-32.
- SF State committed just 11 turnovers but the Seawolves were even more careful of the ball with just seven turnovers.
The Seawolves scored the first basket of the night but the Gators led the rest of the first half and led the game by as much as eight at the 10-minute mark. The Seawolves cut the lead to two but Roth hit a buzzer-beater from the top that sent the Gators into the half with a 30-25 lead.
A Pierce Rexford corner three-pointer tied it at 34 with 15:28 to go, and after a media timeout, and another Rexford three gave the Seawolves the first lead since the opening possession. Bellamy answered with a three but Dillon Iyawe gave the Seawolves the lead right back with a hook shot. From there, SSU grew an eight-point lead. An
Alex Gilat three cut the lead to three at the 10-minute mark, and again at the seven-minute mark on
Caleb Oden's three. Bellamy's three-pointer with under six minutes to go cut the lead to two but the Gators were unable to get a stop. Fadal hit a three and Wells hit a step-back jumper that pushed the Seawolves lead back to eight, and the Gators never got closer than five in the final minutes.
The Gators host Cal State LA (9-11/6-8 CCAA) on Thursday, February 2 at 7:30 p.m. and Cal State San Marcos (12-7/11-3 CCAA) on Saturday, February 4 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. Tickets are on sale at sfstategators.com/tickets.
