SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco State men's basketball team locked up a berth to the 2024 CCAA Tournament with a 70-60 victory over Cal State San Marcos on Saturday afternoon inside the Main Gym at Don Nasser Family Plaza.
- SF State improves to 17-12 and to 11-10 in CCAA action. The Cougars slip to 10-17 and 9-12 in conference play.
- With the win, the Gators clinch a berth into the CCAA Tournament as the sixth seed, set for March 7-9 at Coussoulis Arena on the campus of Cal State San Bernardino. The Gators will open play on March 7 at 5:30 p.m. versus the number three seed, who will likely be either host (RV) Cal State San Bernardino or Cal State LA.
- Since Vince Inglima joined the Gators men's basketball program in 2013-14 – originally as an assistant coach before being named head coach in 2017-18 – the Gators have made seven trips to the CCAA Tournament. Only three programs have been there more (Chico State with nine, Cal State San Bernardino and Cal Poly Pomona both with eight).
- Prior to the game, the Gators honored their seniors, team manager Kyle Takeuchi, Jake Paxton, and Jonah Roth.
- Fittingly on Senior Day, Roth led all the Gators with 19 points and eight rebounds. Roth also recorded a block and now leads the CCAA with 31 (1.1 per game).
- Tyjean Burrell added 13 points in the victory. Jailen Daniel-Dalton had 11 points, six rebounds, and three blocks. Paxton had five points, three rebounds, three assists and a steal.
- John Bakke reeled in a career-high 10 rebounds for the Gators, and Caleb Oden matched his career high with eight as SF State outrebounded the Cougars 46-31. Oden also had three assists and a team-high three steals.
- The Cougars were led by Edwin Collins, who scored 23 points on 9-of-17 shooting with 10 rebounds before fouling out with 1:55 to go. Jack Schultz added 11 points and Uriah Foster had 10 points in the loss.
- CSUSM was without the team's second-leading scorer, 6-foot-8 center Charlie Henderson.
The Cougars led early before
Tyjean Burrell hit three three-pointers in the span of two minutes for an 11-7 Gators lead. Jack Schultz answered with a Cougars three, then the Gators went on a 10-2 run that included a Daniel-Dalton layup, an Oden steal and dunk, and a pair of Bakke three-pointers that put SF State up 21-12.
The Gators grew the lead to 12 and headed into the half with a 41-29 advantage.
With 16:05 to go in the second half, Daniel-Dalton hit a three-pointer in front of the Gators benchto push the lead to 15.
CSUSM trimmed the lead from 14 to eight with a three from Edwin Collins and a Max Tengan three-pointer at 8:10. Despite a 1-for-6 stretch, SF State mustered a 5-0 run that pushed the lead back to 13.
The Cougars again trimmed the lead to single digits with a 7-3 run that consisted of five free throws. However, the Gators made all six of their free throws in the final two minutes to seal the win.
The Gators head to Cal State East Bay on Thursday, February 29 for a 7:30 p.m. game. 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.
