CARSON, Calif. — The San Francisco State men's basketball team made a late run but was ultimately unable to overcome a 15-point halftime deficit in a tough 69-65 loss to RV Cal State Dominguez Hills on Saturday inside the Torodome.
- The Gators fall to 6-10 on the year, 4-6 in CCAA play, to slip into a four-way tie for seventh place. The Toros, who are receiving votes in the latest Top 25 poll, improve to 13-3 overall and 10-0 in conference play, tied with RV Chico State for first place.
- Caleb Oden matched a career-high 19 points in the loss. John Bakke scored 17 points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, Tyjean Burrell had 12 points, Caden Flowers added 11, and Donovan Cooks scored a season-high 10 points.
- CSUDH was led by Jeremy Dent-Smith's 25 points. JT Tan scored 21 points and made it a double-double with a game-high 10 rebounds. Jordan Hilstock finished with 15 points.
- SF State's shooting continued to improve. The Gators hit 10 three-pointers for the second time this season and posted their third-best shooting percentage from deep (40 percent).
- The Toros edged the Gators 38-33 on the glass.
The Toros couldn't miss in the fist half and shot 63 percent (17-of-27) from the floor, including 6-of-7 from deep. The Gators shot 36.7 percent (11-of-30) and found themselves down 45-30 at the half.
Around the 16-minute mark in the second half, the Toros extended their lead to 19. The Gators answered with a 9-0 run with five of those points coming from Flowers to trim the Toros lead to 10. The Gators kept chipping away and a Bakke jumper inside three minutes trimmed the lead to five. A Burrell three-pointer with 2:17 remaining trimmed the lead to two but a couple of Tan free throws pushed the deficit back to four. The Gators again trimmed the lead to two on a Burrell jumper but Tan answered yet again with a basket at the other end. Oden nailed a three-pointer with 31 seconds to play to pull SF State to back within two. The Gators fouled and Dent-Smith made both free throws. The Gators looked to keep it close and went for the two. Burrell's layup was blocked but Bakke followed with the putback to keep it a two-point game. The Gators forced a Dent-Smith turnover with nine seconds remaining but Flowers stepped out on the Gators' final possession. SF State was forced to foul with two seconds remaining but Dent-Smith made both free throws to ice the game.
The Gators host Cal State San Bernardino on Thursday, January 23 at 7:30 p.m. Live stats will be available at sfstategators.com, and fans can tune in to the action on FloCollege. Tickets are available online at sfstategators.com/tickets.
