Three was the name of the game for Gator’s men’s basketball team–shooting 60 percent from behind the arc and converting three-point plays from three post players in the first half – to beat the Cal State L.A. Golden Eagles 80-66.

Five Gators scored in double-digits, lead by freshman point guard Robert Hayes with 19 points, junior guard Alex Thomas and junior forward Ryan Wessels who each had 15 points, a career-high for Wessels. Martin Flores and Will Logan had 11 and 10 points, respectively.

“We were knocking down shots,” Thomas said. “I think we were ready to get a win.” Thomas, a team leader who is returning for his third, has more than 60 assists this season and is averaging more than 10 points per game.

They out-shot the Golden Eagles (10-5, 4-4) from the field and behind the three-point line. At halftime, Thomas was leading the Gators with 12 points, four assists and three rebounds with Wessels following with 11 points, four assists and a pair of rebounds.

“I had to step up with him (Chris Rodriguez) gone,” Wessels said. “And I think we did really well.”

During the second half, the Gators had a 12-point run before outscoring the Cal State L.A. 21-15 during the last ten minutes of play. “Our defense in the second half was stellar,” coach Bill Treseler said. “To hold a very explosive team to 23 points in 20 minutes is amazing.”

Cal State L.A. benefited from nine Gator turnovers and four steals, while SF State had three steals and caught four throwaways by the Golden Eagles in the first half alone. SF State (10-5, 5-3) had three more steals and three more turnovers before the final buzzer, while the wounded Eagles turned the ball over a total of 10 times and had only two steals in the second half.

Free throws, a chronic disease for the Gators, reared its head in the first half with only 55 percent hitting net while Cal State L.A. shot nearly 94 percent, but Hayes was immune and brought the Gators up to 70 percent while shooting 9-for-10 from behind the line. Logan was 2-for-2 and Wessels from 2-for-3 from the free-throw line.

The Gators were boxed out in rebounds 22-15 in the first half, but turned around to out rebound Cal State L.A. 19-15 in the second half. Derek Fletcher had seven rebounds with the help of Darryl Robinson and Wessels contributing six each.

“Our post play was solid,” Treseler said, acknowledging the strong presence of Fletcher, Flores, and Wessels to fill in the void for the Gator’s second-highest scorer, Rodriguez, who wasn’t able to play this weekend.

Once again the Gator’s felt the impact of early foul trouble with more than 10 team fouls – Phoenix O’Rourke was hit with three while Robinson, Flores and Will Logan had two each in the first half. The Gators proved their style of aggressive defense can be done, without the fouls, in the second half with only seven team fouls.

The Gator’s well-executed offense involves a large number of passes, screens, and looks at the hoop often leading to a high turnover rate. The successful offense from Saturday’s game shows in the number of assists, 18, while Cal State L.A. struggled to penetrate the close defense of the Gators only having seven successful pass-and-score situations.

The men’s basketball team will return to the Swamp on Jan. 23 at 7:30 p.m. to take on the CSU Monterey Bay Otters.