Toby Okwuokei dropped 18 points in the Gators' win at Stan State.
Box Score TURLOCK, Calif — The San Francisco State men's basketball team earned another season sweep on Saturday afternoon with an 80-64 win at Stanislaus State, keeping pace in the crowded battle for a berth into the CCAA Tournament.
- With the win, SF State moves to 14-12 overall and evens its CCAA record at 10-10. The Warriors fall to 11-15 overall and effectively see their postseason chances extinguished as they fall into a tie for last place at 7-13. The Gators sit in a three-way tie for third place with Cal Poly Humboldt and Sonoma State but those two teams hold the tiebreaker so if the season ended today, the Gators would be the fifth seed. Still, eight teams are in the mix for the final four spots. Only No. 12 Cal State San Bernardino and Cal State San Marcos have secured berths headed into the final week of the season.
- Seniors Eche Okeke, Toby Okwuokei, and Jalen Flanagan led the charge on the offensive end. Okeke matched a career-high with 20 points for the third time this season and dished out five assists. Toby Okwuokei scored 18 points, reaching the double-digit mark for the 14th time this season. Flanagan capped off a strong week wth 16 points.
- Pearse Uniacke had a career day with eight points on 4-of-4 shooting. He also grabbed a team-high six rebounds and a pair of blocks in 18 minutes.
- With Jonah Roth unavailable for the game, John Bakke got the start and scored four points and grabbed four rebounds.
- Kobe Ordonio led Stan State with 18 points on 6-of-15 shooting. Marlon Short added 15 points on 6-of-13 shooting and Benno Zecic added 11 points in the loss.
- SF State had its second best shooting game of the season at 55 percent (33-of-60), thanks in large part to an astounding 56 points in the paint and 20 off of turnovers. The Warriors shot 43.4 percent (23-of-53).
- The Gators outrebounded the Warriors 34-26.
The first half was a dog fight as the lead constantly traded hands. Ordonio gave Stan State a two-point advantage with a minute and a half to go in the half but Uniacke and Okeke closed out the half with layups that sent the Gators into the half with a 38-36 lead.
SF State pulled away in the second half after Zecic tied the game at 38-38. Flanagan and Okeke scored a couple of buckets to put SF State back up for good. The Warriors pulled to back within two but an Okeke dunk sandwiched between a pair of Warriors offensive fouls sparked a 14-0 run that blew the game open for a 16-point lead. Bakke laid one in, Okeke had another dunk, Bakke scored on a putback, Okwuokei had a pair of layups,
CJ Bellamy hit a three-pointer, and Okeke finished the run with a steal and layup and was fouled for the and-one. The Gators' lead grew to as much as 20 at the 10-minute mark and the Warriors never got closer than 14 the rest of the way.
The Gators are at home for their final two games of the season, important CCAA matchups versus Cal State Dominguez Hills on Thursday, February 23 at 7:30 p.m. and versus Cal State East Bay on Saturday, February 25 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.
