With two games left in the regular season, the San Francisco State University men’s basketball team is only one game back from the last postseason spot for this year’s Collegiate Conference Athletic Association Tournament. The Gators’ road to postseason play got tougher after they lost back-to-back road games against the Cal Poly Pomona Broncos and Cal State San Bernardino Coyotes last weekend. Due to these losses, the Gators no longer control their destiny to make the postseason.
Tied for eighth place with Sonoma State and Cal State Stanislaus, the Gators hold an 8-12 conference record. To make the tournament, they would need to win their last two games against Cal State Dominguez Hills on Feb. 27 and Cal State LA on March 1. They would also need Cal State East Bay and Cal State Stanislaus to lose one of their two remaining games.
The Gators, Cal State LA Golden Eagles and Cal State East Bay Pioneers would hold a 10-12 conference record in this scenario. The Gators would win the tiebreaker over the Golden Eagles due to having a 2-0 head-to-head record against them.
The Gators and Pioneers split their season series 1-1. Therefore, the Gators would need to win the tiebreaker over the Pioneers by accomplishing a huge win of the season in a home victory against Cal State Dominguez Hills, who own the top conference record, on Feb. 27.
A loss for the Cal State Stanislaus Warriors is needed because the Gators dropped both games against the Warriors this season. In this case, the Warriors would end their season with a 9-13 conference record.
Gators men’s head coach Vince Inglima is aware of the external factors surrounding the team’s chances of the postseason. He understands that they need to take the rest of season one’s games one at a time to make the tournament.
“You’re always kind of looking at the standings,” Inglima said. “That’s human nature early in the week. Then, once we get to the moment, we will know what we have to do. It doesn’t really matter what anybody else does. We have to win on Thursday.”
Forward John Bakke will be crucial in helping the Gators win their last two games. Bakke is averaging 12.8 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. He believes if they were to make the tournament, it would be because they got “hot” at this point in the season.
“If you can get in, it’s just one game at a time,” Bakke said. “I think one through five down the line, we have one of the best teams in the conference. That’s kind of our biggest advantage is that I don’t think we’ve hit our peak.”
The Gators will need the continued help of starting guard Tyjean Burrell to secure wins over the Toros and Golden Eagles. Burrell is leading the team in scoring with an average of 13.8 points per game. Burrell looks forward to playing against the Toros on Thursday night because they possess qualities that other teams in the conference don’t have.
“They’re an older and a mature team,” Burrell said. “They’re really deep, too. Soon as one guy comes in, they keep guys on the floor who are also producing at a high level. So it makes us really lock in, possession in and possession out.”
If the Gators win on Thursday night, they could play a “win and get in” game against the Golden Eagles on Sunday afternoon. The Gators’ last two seasons have come down to the regular season’s final weekend, so players like Burrell and Bakke have grown accustomed to this moment.
“It’s nothing new,” Bakke said. “We have a lot of older guys, a lot of seniors, so just basically echoing that to each other that it comes down to Saturday. Win or go home, I think we’re going to be ready for that.”
For Inglima, he hopes to make the postseason at the beginning of each year. If the Gators were to qualify for the tournament, it would be the team’s third straight year reaching the postseason. Making it with this group of guys would be “special” for Inglima, considering the adversity the team has gone through with injuries this year, including losing All-CCAA Second Team senior player Jailen Daniel-Dalton at the beginning of this year.
“These guys are deserving in their effort and their attitudes that they’ve brought every day to the process in their careers,” Inglima said. “Hopefully, we can earn our way to a couple more games.”
