February 18, 2009

Box Score

SAN FRANCISCO – The Cal State Monterey Bay men's basketball team saw their post season first-round home game slip through their fingers as the Otters fell, 62-53, to the Gators of San Francisco State University at Main Gymnasium on Wednesday.

Senior #Dante Green# led the Otters with 16 points and four steals. Senior #Steve Monreal# added 11 points and senior #Joe Mitchell# pulled down a team-high eight rebounds.

SF State broke open a close ballgame in the first half with a 16-4 run to give the home team a 13-point bulge at 23-10.  CSUMB kept within in striking distance by putting together a 10-2 spurt of its own to pull within 25-20 at the 4:15 mark.  The Gators responded quickly with an 11-2 outburst to take a 36-22 cushion into the locker room.

The Otters opened the second half with a 14-0 run, pulling within four on a steal by Green who went in for a layup at 15:38. After a SFSU basket, Green squared up and connected on a 3-pointer to close the gap to 38-35 with 14:46 remaining.

After being fouled from beyond the arc, junior #Shaun Williams# made three consecutive free throws to tie the game at 38-38.  After SFSU's Martin Flores hit the back-end of his free throw, Green's two free throws gave the Otters the lead, 40-39, at 11:27.

Green converted a layup at the 8:36 mark to give the Otters their biggest advantage of the evening at 44-39, but the Gators answered with ten straight points to retake the lead with 4:54 left to play. Freshman #Warren Freeman#'s hit a pair of foul shots narrow the gap down to three, but SFSU's shooting remained hot and grabbed the victory

The Otters (14-10, 8-9 CCAA) compete in their final road game of the 2008-09 season on Saturday, Feb. 22, when they travel south to take on UC San Diego in La Jolla, Calif.  Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m.