POMONA, Calif. — The San Francisco State men's basketball moved up the CCAA standings with a wire-to-wire victory over Cal Poly Pomona, 74-66, on Thursday evening at Kellogg Arena.
- The Gators (12-11/8-9 CCAA) are back above .500 and have won seven of their last nine games. With the win, SF State splits the season series with the Broncos (10-11/7-10 CCAA) and moves from a three-way tie for seventh into a tie for fifth with Chico State (10-12/8-9 CCAA), which lost at second-place Cal State San Marcos. The Gators also got some breathing room with losses by Cal State Monterey Bay (9-12/7-9 CCAA), Stanislaus State (9-14/7-10 CCAA), and Cal State East Bay (8-15/6-11 CCAA). Additionally, last-place Cal State Dominguez Hills (9-14/5-12 CCAA) had just five active players but managed a 72-61 upset of fourth-place Sonoma State (10-13/9-8 CCAA).
- SF State made seven of its first eight three-point attempts and went 54.5 percent (12-for-22) for the game. The Gators shot 50 percent for the first time since November 26, 2021 in a win at Holy Names.
- Overall, the Gators were 50 percent (26-of-52) from the field. That helped offset the team's worst free-throw performance (43.5 percent, 10-of-23) of the season.
- SF State had four players scored in double digits, led by Toby Okwuokei with 13. Bellamy finished with 12 points, all on three-pointers. Caleb Oden and Jalen Flanagan each added 10 points apiece.
- Chris Gayles Jr. and Shyheim Parm led CPP with 19 points apiece. Jaden Winfield and Caleb Nelson both chipped in eight points apiece in the loss.
- Okwuokei also led SF State with nine rebounds, though the Broncos edged SF State 40-33 on the boards.
- Jonah Roth had three blocks for the fourth time this season. He currently ranks second in the league with 1.2 per game.
CJ Bellamy started the game off with a three-pointer and buried three more threes before the first media timeout as SF State built a quick 14-4 lead.
SF State extended its lead to as large as 17 in the first half, though a 12-1 Broncos lead cut the lead to five before a Roth three-pointer halted the attack. The Gators pushed the lead back to double digits with an Oden four-point play. The Broncos cut the halftime advantage to eight at the half thanks to a Winfield layup.
SF State got another three to start the second half, this time off the fingers off Okwuokei, and pushed the lead back to double digits. Nelson cut the lead back to single digits and the Gators countered with a 9-2 run to that grew the lead back to 16. SF State built its lead to 20 on an Oden three-pointer with 8:41 to go, and
John Bakke's free throw at the eight-minute mark gave the Gators their largest lead of the night at 21. The Broncos went on a late run and cut the lead to seven in the waning moments but it wasn't enough.
The Gators take on No. 14 Cal State San Bernardino on Saturday, February 11 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. Tickets are on sale at csusbcoyotes.com/tickets.
