CHICO, Calif — The San Francisco State men's basketball team earned a 64-60 victory at Chico State on Thursday night in Art Acker Gymnasium, but more importantly, the Gators took the season series over the Wildcats in the crowded battle for a berth into the CCAA Tournament.
- With the win, SF State moves to 13-12 overall and 9-10 in the CCAA. The Wildcats slip to 10-13 overall and 8-11 in CCAA action. The Gators entered the night in a four-way tie for fifth place but take sole possession thanks to losses by the Wildcats, Cal Poly Pomona, and Cal State LA.
- SF State shot 50 percent (25-of-50) from the field and held Chico State to 36.5 percent (23-of-63). The Wildcats had more attempts, which resulted in 21 second chance points, but the Gators outscored them 40-26 in the paint.
- The Gators had a season-high eight blocks, the most by a CCAA team this season.
- Jalen Flanagan led SF State with 18 points on 9-of-12 shooting and seven rebounds.
- John Bakke added a dozen points. CJ Bellamy scored eight, and Toby Okwuokei finished with seven points.
- Evan Oliver led the Wildcats with 17 points in the loss. Joshua Hamilton chipped in 15 and Jojo Murphy had 14.
- Chico State held the rebounding advantage, 39-33.
The Wildcats grabbed an early 4-0 lead until Flanagan kicked out to Roth at the top of the key for a wide-open three. Roth had a block at the other end but the Gators couldn't control the ball and the Wildcats made them pay with a left-side three from Hamilton. Okwuokei answered with a three, then the Gators took the lead out of the 16-minute media timeout on a
Pearse Uniacke jumper. Chico State went on a 7-0 run only for the Gators to knot it back at 14-14. The lead bounced back and forth all the way until intermission. Flanagan had a putback off a Roth miss to put the Gators up with just over a minute to go but the Wildcats took a 28-27 halftime lead thanks to a Murphy jumper. A Bellamy jumper started the second stanza, then the Wildcats tied the game at 33-33. Bellamy hit a three, then Bakke worked inside and finished at the rim with his left hand. The Gators got a third-chance opportunity on their next possession when Flanagan came flying down the lane for the putback dunk. That put the Gators up seven and forced a Wildcats timeout.
The Wildcats hung around with a couple of three-pointers but the Gators stayed in front with jumpers at the other end from Bellamy and Okwuokei.
Another Wildcats three pulled the home team to within a point but
Eche Okeke worked his way to the free throw line on back-to-back possessions. SF State's defense prevented Chico State from inbounding the ball and forced the Wildcats to burn a timeout, leaving them with just one left with 8:51 to go. With 8:09 to go, Miles Daniels deflected a a pass and called the Wildcats' final timeout as he dove on the floor for the ball.
The Wildcats twice more cut the lead to two but Okwuokei grabbed a rebound and went to the other end for the layup, and Flanagan got to the rim for a driving layup. The next trip down, Flanagan backed his defender into the paint, then drained a turnaround jumper to put SF State up six. The Wildcats cut it to two with 1:06 to go but
Caleb Oden went flying through the lane and converted an and-one to make it a five-point game with 51.1 left on the clock. The Gators worked the clock down to 11.7 seconds and Bellamy was fouled on the drive. He missed his first free throw attempt but made the second. With no timeouts left, the Wildcats settled for couple of missed shots.
The Gators head south to Turlock to take on Stanislaus State (9-16/7-12 CCAA) on Saturday, February 18 at 3 p.m. That 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.
