When the time clock ran out the crowd went crazy, with fans and players alike on their feet screaming- The Gators won their first game of the season.
The crowd was inspiring and the players themselves had a ton of energy that lasted the whole game. This combination carried the team to a 68-64 victory against Chico State at home Friday night.
The home court advantage was like the Gators sixth man, with the entire stadium chanting defense, defense; it seems to have finally paid off.
“This was our best sustained defensive effort of the year,” said Head Coach Bill Treseler. “I am thrilled for our players.”
The first half of the game remained an even effort between the two schools, with Chico State leading 29-22 at halftime.
The Gators were down 36-24 with 17:34 left in the game and Chico outscoring them 7-2. At 15:06 Will Logan managed to tip the ball in, cutting the Wildcats lead to 36-33. Chico State followed with a 9-2 run to increase their lead to double digits at 45-35.
SF State made a good effort to manage the shot clock better than they did in previous games; in fact they looked like a whole new team against the Wildcats.
“We all made a commitment to practice harder to prepare for these final games,” said Treseler. “We had three excellent practices this week where we emphasized competitiveness and toughness. We made a ton of tough, clutch plays in crunch time tonight.”
The Gators made a 10-0 run of their own with 10:33 left in the game. The Wildcats retook the lead again increasing it to 54-49 with 6:41 left on the clock. The Gators then went on a 6-0 run, punctuated by a Logan jumper, which gave them the lead for the first time in the second half 55-54.
“I always go in with the attitude that we are going to win and it just seems that this time it worked,” said Logan.
With 5:26 left in the game SF State’s Josh Kitchen attempted a pass and ended up with a bloody nose. The Gators fought back once again and took the lead on a three point shot by Lawrence Metz. But Chico State would not quit, and went on to tie the game 60-60 with 2:27 left on the clock.
SF State outscored the Wildcats 6-2 in the next two minutes taking a 66-62 lead against Chico, with a layup by Kajahal Benes. With just 14 seconds left in the game, the Wildcats cut the Gators lead to 66-64. The Gators missed two free throws making their win a battle till the end. But Chico State missed a three pointer and Benes hit 2 free throws to seal the win for SF State.
“We came through with some huge stops down the stretch and Ian [Swift] and Kajahl [Benes] stepped up big at the free throw line,” said Tresler.
On this night Will Logan and Oscar Edwards seemed to shine the brightest. Logan scored 23 points on 9-15 shooting from the field and had three steals. Edwards broke off 19 points and grabbed 8 rebounds. The Gators shot 52.1 percent from the field and managed to hold the Wildcats to 37 percent shooting in the second half of the game.
“We finally came together as a team and it was the most exciting game I have played all season,” said Edwards.
