Gaston leads Cal State men past SF State

By J.P. Hoornstra
Staff Writer

SAN BERNARDINO - As a standout guard for Los Angeles Southwest College, Steve Gaston wasn't used to being a bench guy, a spark plug - any one of those polite synonyms applied to someone who wasn't in the starting lineup.

In this, his first season at Cal State San Bernardino, Gaston has tried hard to embrace the spark plug role. On Saturday, he relished it.

Gaston came off the bench and hit a 3-pointer that broke a 29-29 tie 5:40 into the second half, the critical shot in a 69-54 victory over San Francisco State at Coussoulis Arena.

Reggie Brown hit a three on the Coyotes' next possession, then Gaston hit another on his next touch to break the game open.

Gaston finished 6-for-9 with 15 points on the evening and Cal State (7-0 overall, 2-0 California Collegiate Athletic Conference) made the game look easy down the stretch.

"It's been a struggle coming off the bench," Gaston said. "I just try to come in, play both ends of the floor, be a spark plug."

He made the most of his 16 minutes Saturday, helping rescue Cal State from an uncharacteristically cold shooting night. The Coyotes shot 34 percent from the floor before halftime and 55.6 percent after.

Lance Ortiz also scored 15 points for Cal State, and center Michael Earl added 12 points and five blocked shots.

Head coach Jeff Oliver, the Coyotes' toughest critic, said his team's positives were outweighed by an "atrocious" offense.

"We've just got to  polish things up," Oliver said. "We don't do any of the little things well. We're losing the hustle battle.

Still, his team did nothing over the weekend to disown its No. 9 ranking in the latest Division II poll. After beating Cal State Monterey Bay 79-71 on Friday, the Coyotes' unbeaten league record could go a long way toward a repeat of last year's deep playoff run.

"There's a distinct possibility we'll be in first place by ourselves after the first weekend," he said, referring to the conference's other three 1-0 teams.

San Francisco State (4-3, 1-1) was also unbeaten in league prior to Saturday, and found success early giving the ball to post man Chris Rodriguez (17 points, eight rebounds).

But Cal State's sudden shooting success, and their frustrating full-court trap, seemed to sap the Gators' momentum in the second half.

Former Apple Valley High star Will Logan played a scoreless 22 minutes for San Francisco State.