SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – The San Francisco State men's basketball team fell 84-73 to Cal State San Bernardino on Saturday afternoon inside Coussoulis Arena.
- SF State drops to 10-16 this season, 8-12 in CCAA action and will need to win their next two games and get some help in order to advance to the CCAA Tournament. The Coyotes improve to 19-10 overall and 12-8 in conference play. In doing so, CSUSB punches its ticket to the tournament, which will take place March 6-8 on the Cal State San Marcos campus.
- Four Gators reached double digits for the second time this week. John Bakke led the Gators with 16 points. Donovan Cooks scored a season-high 15 points. Pearse Uniacke recorded his third double-double of the season and second of the week with 14 points and a career-high 16 rebounds. Uniacke added three blocks, bringing his season total to 53. He is now just two behind AJ Kahlon (2016-17), who is third all-time in a single season in Gators history.
- Tyjean Burrell added 10 points in the loss.
- The Gators shot 40 percent (24-of-60) from the field but the Coyotes were even more efficient at 50.8 percent (32-of-63).
- Five Coyotes scored double digits. Evan Oliver led all players with 23 points. Andrew Henderson had 22 points and Charlie Henderson had 14 points. Jordan Jones scored a dozen points and Nic Welp finished with a double-double with 10 points and a team-high 10 rebounds.
- SF State won the rebounding battle, 37-35.
A pair of Uniacke free throws gave the Gators an early 4-3 lead. The Coyotes regained the lead on the next possession with an Andrew Henderson jumper and never relinquished the lead. The Gators remained within striking distance and trailed 35-31 at the half.
SF State tied the game at 35-35 on a Caleb Oden dunk but the Gators were unable to pull ahead. SF State trailed by two inside the 12-minute mark but a 10-4 run by the Coyotes over the next four minutes pushed their lead back to 10. The deficit grew to as large as 19 with just over three minutes to go. The Gators made a late run but never got closer than 10 the rest of the way.
The Gators return home for their final two home games of the season. The Gators host No. 14 Cal State Dominguez Hills on Thursday, February 27 at 7:30 p.m. and Cal State LA on Saturday, March 1 at 3 p.m. At halftime of Thursday's game, San Francisco State will honor the 2024 women's volleyball team with the unveiling of their West Region Championship and National Runner-Up banners. Coverage will be available on FloCollege, and live stats will be at sfstategators.com. Tickets are available at sfstategators.com/tickets.
