SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - Fresno Pacific secured a narrow victory over San Francisco State 64-63 on the first night of the CCAA/PacWest SF State Crossover.  Isaac Peralta and Ryan Abbott led the way for the Sunbirds with 13 points apiece.  

The Gators' Tyjean Burrell opened the scoring with a 3-pointer to set the tone for a closely contested half.  Seth Brown would equalize with a three before Isaac Peralta's steal and fastbreak layup gave the Sunbirds a 5-3 lead.  SF State's Caleb Oden would hit the next three baskets and eight points for the Gators to retake the lead.  SF State's lead would grow to as much as six, but FPU would eventually level the score at 18 off Jonah Geron's made three.  Tyjean Burrell, John Bakke, Oden, and Alec Smith would give the Gators the lead again, by as much as seven before a three-point play by Ryan Abbott and another Geron three-ball would cut the deficit to three at halftime.  SF State led 32-29 at half.

The second half of action began with SF State gaining an early advantage, with Oden and Bakke combining early to pump the lead to seven.  The Gators would continue to sink shots but after back-to-back fastbreak baskets from Peralta plus clutch makes from Brown and Harrison Pennisi the lead was back down to three.  The Gators would not go away though, and thanks to makes from Burrell and Odom the lead was back up to seven.  Peralta's jumper in the paint at 14:34 became the turning point of the game though, as it kickstarted an 9-0 run that saw the 'Birds regain the lead for the first time in the half.  The Gators would fight back, tying the game and attempting to take the lead, but Pennisi took over with six straight points on two field goals and a pair from the line to hold a five point lead with less than nine minutes to play.  The Sunbirds wouldn't trail again, despite trading baskets down the stretch with the Gators.  Alex Gilat, Pearse Uniacke, and Burrell would keep fighting for SF State, and with less than a minute found themselves within two.  Peralta would make a pair of free throws to keep the FPU advantage at four.  With under 10 seconds remaining, SF State's Caden Flowers would hit a three draw them to within one.  After a quick foul Peralta scored FPU's final point to lead by two with five seconds remaining.  As time was about to expire though, FPU's Gabriel Quiette fouled Burrell to send the Gators to the line with a chance to tie.  Burrell hit the first one, but missed the second, and the Sunbirds held on for the closest of victories, 64-63.  

Peralta, Abbott, and Pennisi would all hit double digits for the Sunbirds, with 13, 13, and 11 points respectively.  Geron was a perfect 3-3 from the field to tally nine points, and Brown chipped in eight.  Abbott came up one board shy of a double-double for FPU.  FPU's 30 points in the paint turned out to be the big difference-maker, compared to 24 for the hosts.  16 second chance points compared to nine from SF State also helped the Sunbirds escape with the win.

Up next for FPU is a showdown with Sonoma State in their second and final game of the CCAA/PacWest event.  Tip off against the Seawolves is scheduled for Saturday at 5pm PT.


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