SEASIDE, Calif. — The San Francisco State men's basketball team bested Cal State Monterey Bay 77-72 in overtime on Thursday night inside the Otter Sports Complex.

By the Numbers

• SF State improves to 8-11 and 6-7 in CCAA action on the year, into a three-way tie for fifth place. Meanwhile, the Otters fall to 6-12 overall and 3-10 in CCAA play..
• The Gators shot 54.5 percent (6-11) from deep in the first half and 52.9 percent (9-of-17) in the contest, the team's best three-point performance of the season.
• Tyjean Burrell scored a career-high 31 points, 13 of which came in the first half, on 11-of-16 shooting and six three-pointers, tied for the most triples by a Gator this season.
• John Bakke added 16 points and six rebounds, and Caden Flowers finished with 12 points. Flowers came up big in overtime with eight of the team's 12 points.
• Pearse Uniacke had a game-high eight rebounds despite fouling out in regulation. The CCAA's blocks leader had a rare game without one.
• Jaden Tengan led the Otters with 25 points on 8-of-19 shooting, including five three-pointers. Chol Deng added a dozen points and Blake Jones scored 11 in the loss.

How It Happened

Burrell hit his first triple of the night 11 seconds into the contest off a nice assist from Flowers. The Otters answered with three consecutive three pointers of their own before Burrell knocked down another from deep to make it 9-6. Caleb Oden's booming dunk with 14:43 left leveled things up at 10-all, and Burrell's third three-pointer put SF State back up at 13-12. The three-point flurry continued midway through the frame, with Caleb Oden, Donovan Cooks and Alex Gilat each converting from beyond the arc on consecutive possessions as the Gators now led 24-16. SF State was able to hold the momentum at the end of the half, holding CSUMB scoreless for nearly three minutes to end the first half to go into the break up 33-27.

The hosts came out with a 7-2 run to make it a one-score game, but Burrell continued his sharp shooting with a jumper and another three to put the Gators up 44-38 with just over 15 minutes left. CSUMB answered with three straight layups to tie things up 44-all. The Otters regained the lead on a 9-2 run behind three layups and force a SF State timeout with 4:30 to go. The back-and-forth continued in the closing minutes, with Bakke knocking down two free throws with 2:01 left to put SF State back up by one, but the Otters once again responded with a three-pointer for the 63-61 lead. Bakke made another free throw with 52 second left, and Burrell stepped up with a deep three with 26 seconds remaining to put SF State up 65-63. CSUMB came out of the timeout with a layup to knot the score up at 65-all and force overtime.

Ariya Briscoe pulled up for an uncontested three from the top left to start the scoring in overtime. Flowers was fouled at the other end and made both to keep the Gators within one. After a stop, the Gators continued to attack the rim and Burrell drew a foul in the paint. Burrell made his first free throw to tie it. His next shot was off iron but a lane violation gave him another opportunity and this time he made it to give the Gators the lead at 69-68. With 2:35 to play in overtime, Deng drew a foul on a contested rebound but missed both attempts, and at the other end Burrell drove baseline to make it 71-68. A pair of Briscoe free throws cut the Gators lead to one. Alex Gilat's three-point attempt was off target and Oden tipped the ball out but Briscoe came up with the long rebound, then missed the fast break layup. Flowers got into the key for another bucket to make it 73-70 but the Gators fouled and Tengan kept it close, 73-72, with a pair of free throws. With 26 seconds on the game clock and two seconds on the shot clock, Flowers buried a floater to keep it a three-point game. Trying to create space, Tengan lost the dribble behind his back and was forced to foul. Flowers came up with the loose ball and knocked down both free throws to ice the game with 10.9 seconds remaining.

Up Next

SF State continues the road trip on Saturday, February 1 at Stanislaus State. Live stats will be available at sfstategators.com, and fans can tune in to the action on FloCollege.