HILO, Hawaii — Three games in three days took its toll on the San Francisco State men's basketball team as the Gators got off to a slow start and never recovered in a 72-65 loss to host Hawai'i Hilo in Tuesday evening's Big Island Holiday Classic finale inside Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.
- John Bakke led the Gators with 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting.
- Jailen Daniel-Dalton added 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting and was a rebound shy of another double-double. Daniel-Dalton was named to the Big Island Holiday Classic All-Classic team after shooting 50 percent (17-of-34) from the field and from deep (6-of-12) over three games. He averaged 13.7 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game.
- Tyjean Burrell followed up his career 23-point night with a 10-point effort in Tuesday's loss.
- Donovan Cooks added eight points and dished out a career-high five rebounds in the loss.
- Carlos Ramsey Jr. led all players with 18 points on 8-of-16 shooting for the Vulcans.
- Kalique Mitchell added 16 points, Jake Kosakowski chipped in a dozen, and Charles Elzie III finished the night with 11 points.
- SF State shot just 28 percent (7-of-25) in the first half but caught fire in the second half, going 55.2 percent (16-of-29).
- The Gators also dominated the glass, 40-27.
The Gators went down 10-0 in the first three minutes. Burrell finally got the Gators on the board with 16:37 to go with a drive and layup high off the glass but the Vulcans kept coming and built their lead to 19-5 over the next five minutes. The Gators finally scored back-to-back baskets but UHH answered grew its lead further to 31-11. With three seconds remaining in the half, Elzie came up with a steal and hit a jumper to beat the clock for a 40-18 Vulcans halftime lead.
The Gators went on a 9-0 run in the second half to cut the lead to 16 inside of 14 minutes. At the 12-minute mark, Cooks and John Bakke had back-to-back makes to pull within 14 and after the 12-minute media timeout, the Gators stole the inbounds pass for an easy layup to cut the deficit to a dozen. A corner three from Alex Gilat followed by a transition three by Cooks made it an eight-point game, 52-44, with just over 10 minutes to go. Four minutes later, the Gators cut the lead to six on a Cooks three-pointer. With 4:31 to go, Bakke hit his second long ball of the night to pull the Gators to within three, 60-57, but the Vulcans stopped the bleeding and pushed their lead back to eight. Burrell made a pair of free throws to pull SF State to within five but Peat and Nedd each made a pair of free throws to ice the game for the Vulcans.
SF State will begin a five-game CCAA homestand beginning Sunday, December 31 at 3 p.m. when the Gators host Cal State East Bay. The game will be broadcast on the CCAA Network with live stats will be available at sfstategators.com, as well as updates on X at @sfstate_mbb. Tickets are available at sfstategators.com/tickets.
