SAN FRANCISCO — For one night at least, the immovable object bested the irresistible force. San Francisco State, ranked No. 8 nationally in scoring defense, quieted a Cal State Monterey Bay offense that was the CCAA top scoring team against Division II competition, to earn a 73–58 win Saturday night in The Swamp.

The loss snaps CSUMB's 3–game win streak and drops the Otters to 7–5 overall and 3–3 in the CCAA. SFSU improved to 6–4 and 4–2.

The Gator defensive effort can be summed up in a pair of statistics. They forced a season–high 20 Otter turnovers and limited the Otters to a season–low 41 field goal attempts.

The Otters did a good job of making shots when they got them, shooting 49 percent from the field, including 42 percent from 3–point range. But the CSUMB defense forced just 12 SFSU turnovers while the Gators won the battle of the boards, 28–22.

"As this process moves forward we will continue to learn as a team and grow as a team," said CSUMB Head Coach Rob Bishop (@Coach_RBishop). "This road split was good but we are kicking ourselves a little for not getting a sweep."

SFSU opened the game with a 13–3 run, one of several occasions in which the Gators threatened to blow the game open. Each time they pulled away, however, the Otter battled back. They pulled two within one point twice in the first half before SFSU eased out to a 33–23 halftime lead.

CSUMB trailed by as many as 14 points several times in the second half. but fought its way to within five points twice, the last time at 59–54 with 2:10 remaining. That's when the Gators caught fire from the free–throw line, making 10 in a row and 12–of–13 in the final 2:01 to keep the Otters at arm's length.

Alex Fertig (Fresno/Buchanan HS) led CSUMB with 15 points while Daye Turner (Compton/Centennial HS) added 12. Jorey Scott (Reno, Nev./Miramar College) added six rebounds in a season–high 27 minutes.

CSUMB returns home for a pair of games next weekend when it hosts Cal State L.A. Friday and Cal State Dominguez Hills Saturday. Both games will tipoff at 7:30 p.m. as the nightcaps of men's/women's doubleheader action.