SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco State men's basketball team capped off the regular season with another thriller, this time earning a 79-77 overtime victory over visitng Cal State East Bay on Saturday afternoon in the Main Gym at Don Nasser Family Plaza.
- With the win, SF State moves to 16-12 overall and finishes the conference schedule at 12-10, securing the third seed in the CCAA Tournament after a Sonoma State loss. Cal State East Bay finishes the season at 12-16 overall and 10-12 in CCAA action, missing out on the sixth seed due to Chico State owning the tiebreaker.
- SF State finishes with a 9-4 home record, including their final six in San Francisco.
- The Gators honored their four seniors – Jalen Flanagan, Eche Okeke, Toby Okwuokei, and Bryson Ryan – in a pregame Senior Day ceremony.
- SF State shot 53.7 percent (29-of-54) for the game, including 38.9 percent (7-of-18) from deep.
- Okeke poured in a career-high 23 points and notched his sixth double-double of the season with 11 rebounds.
- Jalen Flanagan also posted a new career high with 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting, and grabbed nine rebounds.
- John Bakke came off the bench and scored 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting.
- Okwuokei added 10 points, four rebounds, three steals, and two steals.
- The Pioneers had five players in double digits. Tim Andreolli, Grady Lewis, and Garrett Pascoe all had 15 points apiece. Dimitrios Klonaras and Payden White chipped in 11 points apiece in the loss. Lewis also grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds.
- The Gators had three blocks and share the conference lead with Cal State LA at 3.18 blocks per game.
- Despite being second in the CCAA in rebounding, the Gators were outrebounded by the Pioneers 41-33, 17-7 on the offensive end.
Andreolli, the Pioneers' lone senior, gave CSUEB the lead to star the game and the teams traded the lead over the first three minutes. The Pioneers went on a 7-0 run and took an 11-5 lead. They grew their lead to 18-9, then 24-12 inside the 10-minute mark of the first half. Okwuokei got to the rim for a pair of layups and Flanagan hit a pull up jumper. Okeke scored a layup, then
Pearse Uniacke dunked one home to cut the lead to 24-22. CSUEB pushed its lead back to seven but the Gators tied it again with 1:15 to go on an Okwuokei steal and layup. The Pioneers scored the last four points of the half for a 36-32 halftime advantage.
SF State finally tied the game again at 12:15 in the second half on a
CJ Bellamy three-pointer, then took the lead at 49-47 on a pair of Okeke free throws. CSUEB took the lead right back and pushed the deficit to 56-49. The Gators continually countered but couldn't get a stop. The Gators pulled to within a point but Andreolli kept it a three-point Pioneers lead with a turnaround jumper ahead of the final media timeout. Both teams went scoreless for over the next two minutes until Bakke was there for the putback to make it a one-point game with 1:34 to go in regulation. Andreolli answered again and silenced the crowd with a three-pointer with 25 seconds remaining. Flanagan put back his own miss and was fouled to make it 64-62 but Flanagan missed the free throw. He was forced to foul Ramsey Huff, who missed both free throws. Flanagan sent the game into overtime with a driving layup with eight seconds to go.
In overtime, Flanagan hit a three on the opening possession and Bakke hit a turn around jumper on the next trip down for a quick five-point lead. Klonaras brought the Pioneers to within two with a layup with 21 seconds to go. CSUEB fouled and the Gators missed the free throws. CSUEB called a timeout with nine seconds remaining but Pascoe's midrange jumper with a second remaining didn't fall. Okeke secured the rebound as time expired and the Gators poured onto the court to celebrate.
The Gators head to Turlock for the CCAA Tournament and will take on the sixth seed, Chico State (12-15), in the first round on Thursday, March 2 at Noon. The game will be broadcast on the CCAA Network with live stats available at sfstategators.com. Tickets are now on sale at goccaa.org/tickets. In-game updates will also available on Twitter at @sfstate_mbb.
