SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco State men's basketball team took one step closer to the postseason with Thursday evening's 65-47 victory over Sonoma State inside the Main Gym at Don Nasser Family Plaza.
- San Francisco State sweeps the season series versus the Seawolves. SF State improves to 16-12 overall and into sole possession for sixth place in the CCAA at 10-10. With Cal State San Marcos losing at Cal State East Bay, the Gators control their destiny and can punch their ticket to the conference tournament with a win over the Cougars at home on Saturday.
- Sonoma State slips to 13-13 overall and into a tie for seventh place in the CCAA at 9-10.
- The Gators led wire-to-wire after scoring on their opening possession .
- Tyjean Burrell was the game's high scorer yet again. The guard was one of 10 Gators to score and led all players with 13 points.
- Jonah Roth scored 10 points and added a team-high eight rebounds. John Bakke also had 10 points in the win.
- Cameron Barry scored 12 points, all on three-pointers, for SSU.
- SF State shot 44.9 percent (22-of-49) from the field and was 36.4 percent (8-of-22) accurate from deep.
- The Gators limited Sonoma State to 31.0 percent (18-of-58) from the field and to just 20.0 percent (4-of-20) from deep. The Broncos didn't help themselves at the free throw line, where they shot just 47.4 percent (9-of-19).
- The Gators pushed the tempo and scored 18 fast break points.
- SF State dished out 16 assists, tied for third most this season.
- The 47 points allowed were the fewest since Jan. 25, 2023 in a 72-42 win over Stanislaus State.
- Sonoma State held a 39-31 edge in the rebounding battle and scored 16 second chance points.
SF State finally shook off the trend of starting slow. Instead, the Gators took an 8-0 lead sparked by three assists from
CJ Bellamy. The sophomore guard hit Burrell, who buried a three on the opening possession, and to Roth for five straight points. The Seawolves trimmed the lead in half but the Gators maintained the lead, and eventually pushed the lead to double digits by the 11-minute mark. With SF State up 16 with just over two minutes to go, Barry hit three consecutive three-pointers to pull the Seawolves to within seven. Bakke hit a buzzer-beater to give the Gators a 33-24 lead at the half.
The Seawolves immediately pulled to within five points in just two minutes of second-half action. However, Burrell stopped the bleeding with another big three pointer and a few possessions later, Roth scored a second-chance bucket to push the lead back to 10. SF State still led by double digits with just over a minute left, forcing SSU to foul. The Gators made eight free throws to grow the final deficit to 18.
The Gators host a very important game on Senior Day, this Saturday, February 24 when they take on Cal State San Marcos at 3 p.m. Prior to the game, SF State will honor its two seniors, Jake Paxton and Jonah Roth, as well as team manager Kyle Takeuchi.
The San Francisco State Student-Athlete Advisory Committee is also hosting its annual food drive Feb. 19-25, with all proceeds donated to SF State's Basic Needs Initiative - Food+Shelter+Success. Students and fans can help support the basic needs drive by bringing non-perishable food items and other essential items to home games throughout the week.
Fans can stream the game live on the CCAA Network. Live stats will be available at sfstategators.com with updates also available on X at @sfstate_mbb. Tickets are available at sfstategators.com/tickets.
