SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - San Francisco State men's basketball team opened the season with an exhibition game against UC Santa Barbara, falling 98-67.
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- The Gators started Fed Pernell, Markees Williams, Milandev Chatha, Bricen Buciak and Evan McKnight.
- Diego Martinez led the Gators with 17 points and went 3-for-4 from beyond the arch.
- Fouls were a huge problem for the Gators with SF State recording 17 while the Gauchos recording four in the first half. The Gators finished with 32 fouls with five players reaching four fouls.
- The Gauchos had a 61-23 advantage, recording one more offensive board than the Gators had total rebounds.
- Six players reached double figures for Santa Barbara with Zion Sensley leading the way with 23.
Pernell scored the first basket of the season to tie the game up 2-2. Down 9-2, the Gators called a 30-second timeout. Coming out of the time out, Pernell, Buciak, Martinez and Parsa Hadjighasemi had three point baskets to keep the Gators within two possessions of the Gaunchos. Leading 19-14, the Gauchos went on a 10-2 run to start to pull away from the Gators. The Gauchos were able to capitalize on the 17 fouls in the first half and led 58-35 after one half.
The Gauchos opened the second half on a 5-0 run before Markees Williams banked a three-pointer. The Gators trailed 76-44 at the under 12 timeout. The Gators had a 11-0 run right before the under four minute break but the deficit was too much to overcome.
SF State opens its season at the West Region Tip-off classic host at Dominican. They play the host team on November 14 at 7:15 pm. Live stats will be available at sfstategators.com.