TURLOCK, Calif. – Fresno Pacific fell in the battle of Highway 99 to Stanislaus State 79-74 on Monday evening in non-conference action. The Sunbirds led by as many as 16 and held a lead for nearly 25 minutes, but the Warriors used 51 second-half points to escape with the victory.
 
FPU drops to 1-10 on the season with the setback, while Stan State moves to 4-6 overall.
 
Mike Crawley led the Sunbirds with 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting in the loss. The junior added five rebounds, two blocks and two steals to his line. Spencer Krannitz scored 12 points, while T.J. Viney and Kavika Jimenez added eight points apiece and Suhail Mohammadi amassed five points, seven rebounds and three assists.
 
The Sunbirds came out firing on all cylinders as Crawley opened the night with a pair of layups. After each team exchanged baskets, FPU used a 15-5 run in just over four minutes of action to earn its largest lead of the evening of 16 points, 32-16, with 4:27 left before halftime. Six different players scored during the run for the Sunbirds. FPU then entered the locker room up 35-28.
 
The Warriors fought back, however, and eventually tied the game at 43 apiece with 13:47 to play in the second half. A 21-9 run followed for Stan State the next 7:30 of action, as the Warriors jumped out to a 10-point lead behind five FPU turnovers. After the Sunbirds crawled back into the game and tied it at 68 apiece with a Mohammadi running layup, Stanislaus State answered with a 7-2 run the next few minutes to take control of the game.
 
The Sunbirds forced 18 Stan State turnovers and turned them into 27 points. FPU also out-scored the Warriors 42-28 in the paint. Stan State won the rebounding battle 39-30 and capitalized on 32 free-throw attempts, making 23 of them.
 
Jaelen Ragsdale led the Warriors with 20 points and four rebounds, while Vondel Faniel added a double-double of 18 points and 14 rebounds.
 
FPU is back in action after the New Year on Tuesday, Jan. 3 against Dixie State at 7:30 p.m.