MERCED, Calif. - The San Francisco State men's basketball team could not keep up with a sharp shooting UC Merced team and fell 92-77.
- SF State falls to 2-14 and 1-9 in conference. UC Merced improves to 4-10 and 2-8 in the CCAA
- Miles Pollard had a team-high 17 points. Diego Martinez added 15 and Maximilian Parmigiani had 11.
- The Bobcats shot 53.2 percent from the field and 64.5 percent in the second half alone. They shot 46.7 from deep.
- The Gators finished with 21 personal fouls giving Merced plenty of opportunities at the line. Merced went 19-for-28.
- Markees Williams dished out six assists.
- Pawllos Habtom had 25 points to lead Merced.
After a trip to the line for Milandev Chatha cut the Bobcat lead down to 7-6, the Bobcats went on a 7-0 scoring run while the Gators did not record a point for nearly three and a half minutes. Martinez finally got them on the board with a three-pointer and Fed Pernell's step back jumper made it a one possession game but the Bobcats immediately responded and went on a 8-0 scoring run to go up by double figures. The Gators were able to cut the lead to single digits but UC Merced continued to pull away. Parmigiani scored a three-pointer on the final play of the half to cut the Bobcat's lead to 40-31.
Martinez had all seven of the Gators points in the first two minutes of the second half to keep the Gators in it. The Bobcats used another scoring run to go up by 20 with 16:36 left on the clock. The Gators chipped away at the lead and made it a 65-54 game with 11:33 remaining. The Gators could not slow down the Bobcat offense as they continued to hold a double-digit lead the rest of the way.
The Gators return home to host Cal State Monterey Bay on January 22 at 7:30 p.m. Live stats will be available at sfstategators.com and fans can watch at home on FloCollege.
