Men's Basketball | 11/7/2016 4:35:00 PM
SAN FRANCISCO— The San Francisco State Gators will open up their 2016-17 regular season this weekend hosting the San Francisco State Tip-Off Classic this Friday and Saturday, November 11 and 12 at The Swamp at The Don Nasser Family Plaza. The Gators will host Academy of Art this Friday and Dominican University of California on Saturday. Both games are set for a 7pm tip-off.
Stanislaus State will also be participating in this year's classic. The Warriors will face Dominican University of California on Friday and Academy of Art on Saturday. Their games have a 5pm tip-off at The Swamp at The Don Nasser Family Plaza.
"Playing at home has historically been a big advantage for us, so we are looking forward to hosting this week's tournament," added Trevor. The Gators will face PacWest foes Academy of Art and Dominican University of California. During Coach Trevor's tenure, the Gators are 47-23 (.671) at home.
The Gators return nine letter-winners including six seniors from last year's team that went 16-11 including 10-10 in the CCAA. 2015-16 CCAA Newcomer of the Year,
Warren Jackson, returns for his junior season after averaging 10.7 points per game while shooting 45.8% from the field. Also back is
Coley Apsay who averaged 8.8 points per game while recording 29 steals and shooting 88.9% from the charity stripe.
After the Tip-Off Classic next weekend, the Gators will travel to Monmonth, Ore., to participate in the WOU/Doubletree by Hilton D2 Shootout. San Francisco State will face 2015-16 NCAA Division II West Region Champion, Western Oregon on Nov. 18 at 7pm and Concordia-Portland on Nov. 19 at 5pm.
GAME NOTES
GATORS: San Francisco State went 16-11 last season including 10-10 in the CCAA, which earned them the sixth spot in the CCAA Basketball Championships. This was the fourth time in six years that the Gators received a berth in the post-season tournament.
SIX SENIORS: The Gators have six seniors on this year's team in
Coley Apsay,
Derrick Brown,
Nick Calcaterra,
Israel Hakim,
AJ Kahlon and
Parker U'u. Brown and Calcaterra each are four-year seniors while Kahlon is in his third season. Apsay and Hakim are in their second season in the Purple and Gold and U'u is in his first season.
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR: Warren Jackson was the 2015-16 CCAA Newcomer of the Year to become the second Gator to earn this honor. Marquel Hoskins won this award in 2009-10. Jackson led the Gators in scoring with his 10.7 scoring average. He also shot 45.8% from the field while recording 24 steals. Jackson also earned Second Team All-CCAA honors along with
Floyd Wormley.
Jon McMurry also was named to the CCAA Honorable Mention Team. Coach Trevor now has coached 13 All-CCAA players during his coaching career at SFSU.
9 RETURNERS: Besides the 6 seniors, the Gators return 9 returners altogether from last year's teams as
Warren Jackson,
Chiefy Ugbaja and
Ryne Williams are each back for the Gators.
47-23 AT HOME: The Gators are 47-23 at home during head coach
Paul Trevor's six-years at the helm of the men's basketball program. This past season, San Francisco State went 8-5 at home including 5-5 in the CCAA at home.
SCHOLAR ATHLETES TOO: The Gators also received some Academic honors last season as both
Coley Apsay and
Ryne Williams each were named to the CCAA All-Academic Team at the end of the year and the Winter CCAA All-Academic Team. Apsay was the Gator's male recipient of the CCAA Dr. Hal E. Charnofsky Award.
COACH TREVOR'S THOUGHTS ON THE PRE-SEASON: "We played well for the first 25 minutes of our exhibition game at Nevada this past Friday," said head coach
Paul Trevor. "It was a three-point game after the first 25 minutes and we played without one of our key returners,
Coley Apsay which hurt our depth. I am excited to get the regular season started this Friday."
COMCAST HOMETOWN NETWORK: The Gators once again will have two of their games televised this season. On Friday, December 2, San Francisco State will host Cal Poly Pomona in "Purple Out". The on Friday, February 3, the Gators will host Stanislaus State in "Spirit Night".
SAN FRANCSICO STATE TIP-OFF CLASSIC SCHEDULE
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11
5PM Stanislaus State vs. Dominican University of California
7PM San Francisco State vs. Academy of Art
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 12
5PM Stanislaus State vs. Academy of Art
7PM San Francisco State vs. Dominican University of California
URBAN KNIGHTS: Academy of Art went 6-20 last season including 6-20 in the PacWest. The Urban Knights averaged 66.5 points per game while averaging 76.7 points per game last season. They return six players from last year's team including Chris Salas, who averaged 11.2 points and 4.5 rebounds per game while shooting 46% from the field. The Gators played Academy of Art twice last season with San Francisco State winning both of the games. In their first game on Nov. 20, 2015 in Rohnert Park, the Gators won 72-53 as
Warren Jackson scored 16 points and
Coley Apsay chipped in 12 points for the victors. The Gators won the rematch on Nov. 28, 2015 at Kezar Stadium, 73-72 in overtime.
Israel Hakim and
Coley Apsay each had 12 points while
Nick Calcaterra added 11 points for the victors.
PENGUINS: Dominican University of California went 14-14 last season including 10-10 in the PacWest. The Penguins return All-PacWest Second Team selection, Josh Ramirez who averaged 15.0 points per game while shooting 54% from the field including 32% from three-point land. Ramirez is one of eight returning letter-winners for Dominican. The Gators have won two of the last three meetings between the two teams with all three being at neutral site locations. San Francisco State won 63-58 on Nov. 29, 2014, in Chico in both team's last meeting.
STANISLAUS STATE: The Warriors went 8-17 last season including 7-13 in the CCAA under the direction of head coach Larry Reynolds. They return All-CCAA Second Team selection, Christian Bayne who averaged 15.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game.
THREE TOURNAMENTS: This will be one of three tournaments that the Gators will be participating in this season. Besides this week's Tip-Off Classic, the Gators will participate in next week's WOU/Doubletree by Hilton D2 Shootout in Monmouth, Ore. The Gators will face Western Oregon at 7pm on Nov. 18 and Concordia-Portland at 5pm on Nov. 19. They will also participate in the NDNU Thanksgiving Classic in Belmont, Calif., on Nov. 25-26. The Gators will face Holy Names at 5pm on Nov. 25 and Notre Dame de Namur on Nov. 26 at 7pm.
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Gator Athletics has a proud tradition of competitive success within the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The department offers 12 intercollegiate sports programs: Baseball, Men's and Women's Basketball, Men's and Women's Cross Country, Men's and Women's Soccer, Softball, Women's Track & Field, Women's Volleyball and Men's Wrestling.
Gator Athletics places great emphasis on academic performance as well as athletic achievement. The program offers student athletes the opportunity to reach their educational goals, as well pursue meaningful athletic accomplishments. For more information, visit SF State Athletics' website, Twitter and Facebook pages.
