Box Score: San Francisco State 58, Sonoma State 55

SAN FRANCISCO- Down by three with 1.4 seconds left, Sonoma State inbounded the ball underneath its own hoop, but Matthew French's shot flew over the open net and rimmed off the back iron as time expired, giving San Francisco State a collective sigh of relief and the 58-55 victory on Saturday night at The Swamp in San Francisco. The Seawolves (9-15, 7-13 CCAA) fall to tenth place in the conference standings with two games left to play in the regular season. The Gators improve to 15-9 and 13-7 in the CCAA.

The game stayed very close in the opening half, as both teams suffered through four ties and three lead changes and neither the Seawolves or Gators led by more than four points in a very low-scoring first half of play. It was Sonoma State, though, that had the advantage on the scoreboard heading into the locker room at the intermission, 21-19.

SSU and SFSU weren't very efficient from the floor, either. The Gators only hit on 29.6 percent from the floor (8 of 27) in the first 20 minutes while the Seawolves made just six shots in 23 attempts (26.1 percent).

The second half was more of the game, but the hosts finally extended their lead to as much as seven points with 8:01 remaining in the contest. Sonoma State would begin chipping away at the Gators' margin, even coming to within one point (49-48) with 4:21 showing on the scoreboard.

San Francisco State then led by as much as four points again, but a three pointer by Steven Pratt with 41 ticks on the clock got Sonoma State within striking distance again for the second consecutive night. Two successful free throws by SF State's Nefi Perdomo with 30 seconds remaining gave the Gators a three point lead.

Looking for the heroics that sent Sonoma State into overtime on Friday night at Cal State Monterey Bay, it was Pratt who launched a three pointer with four seconds left, but the rebound went out of bounds and stayed in the Seawolves' hands. It was then when French got the inbound pass with 1.4 seconds, but the shot rimmed off and the Gator faithful celebrated with the three-point win.

The Gators came alive in the final 20 minutes of regulation, hitting 57.1 percent of their shots (16 of 28) while the Seawolves hit just under 50 percent (45.8) with 11 of 24 from the field.

Patrick Scott led the Seawolves with 13 points and both Pratt and French scored 10 points apiece. French led the team in rebounds, grabbing seven in the loss.

For San Francisco State, who remains in third place in the CCAA standings with the victory, was led by the 15 points and nine rebounds of Winston Demmin, who gave SFSU the spark off the bench. Marquel Hoskins and Matt Fochtman chipped in with 11 points.

Sonoma State, who has two games remaining in the regular season, is in danger of not qualifying for the CCAA tournament for the first time in four years. They will host Cal State L.A. on Wednesday and nationally-ranked Cal State Dominguez Hills on Friday at The Wolves' Den, both are set to tipoff at 7:30 p.m. in Rohnert Park.