BOX SCORE

SAN FRANCISCO — Things looked good for the Cal State Monterey Bay men's basketball team for the first 28 minutes, but the Otters went cold down the stretch and San Francisco State used a late run to earn a 60-55 win Saturday night in The Swamp.

CSUMB (3-4, 0-2 CCAA) led 31-24 at the half for its first halftime lead in a CCAA game since Feb. 18, 2011. But SFSU (3-3, 1-1) scrapped back to tie the game midway through the second half then used a quick 11-0 run to turn a 46-45 Otter lead into a 56-46 Gator advantage with less than five minutes to play.

The Otters came back and had chances to get back into the game late. Perhaps the best came with them trailing 58-55 inside the final 30 seconds. Alex Fertig (Fresno/Buchanan HS) swiped the ball from Robbie Herndon and fed Brandon Ward (Riverside/Woodcrest HS) on a fast break with the Otters down 58-53. But Decensae White caught Ward from behind to get a clean block, and keep the Otters from climbing to within one point.

William Overton made a pair of free throws on the ensuing SFSU possession to account for the final margin.

Junior guard James Thomas (Castro Valley/Bishop O'Dowd) came off the bench to lead CSUMB with 14 points. Junior forward Kris Gallop (Vallejo/Los Medanos College) grabbed 11 rebounds to match Derrick Anderson's (Pittsburg HS) team season high.

James Albright led three Gators in double figures with 14 points.

CSUMB will stay in the Bay area for its next two games. The Otters will visit PacWest Conference foe Holy Names University Thursday in Oakland before returning to CCAA action Saturday at Cal State East Bay.