March 7, 1995
UC Davis held the conference's leading scorer Lawrence Williams to 13 points as the Aggies defeated the SF State men's basketball team, 58-49, in the first-round game of the Northern California Athletic Conference Tournament last Wednesday.
The Gators were cold from the floor, shooting just 34 percent, including 4-for-26 from 3-point range.
"Our shooting as a team just wasn't there," guard Andrew Allen said. "It wasn't just one person, it was everybody."
Offensively, forward Jason Braden led the Gators shooting 10-for-12 with 21 points.
"Our defense kept us in the game," Braden said. "The big thing that hurt us was that we couldn't control the ball down the stretch. And we couldn't get the ball to Lawrence."
Davis' defense controlled the game by out-rebounding the Gators and nullifying Williams' offense.
"The first two games they played us man-to-man," Allen said. "But they switched to zone and that took us out of rhythm. We couldn't get the ball to Lawrence because they triple-teamed him through most of the game -- he's our bread and butter."
Williams, who averaged 20.3 points per game, was held to just six shots.
"We lost because Lawrence couldn't get the ball," forward Carlos McLean said. "We shot terrible from the floor. Some nights you just can't put the ball in."
The Aggies jumped out to an early 18-3 lead with 13:32 left in the first half.
SF State rallied back and cut the lead to 29-22 at the half.
With 4:16 remaining in the game, a dunk by Braden cut the Aggies' lead to 50-47. But the Gators could not catch up as the Aggies went 6-for-9 from the foul line in the final four minutes.
SF State finished its emotional season, which began with the death of senior Richard Saunders, with a 12-15 record.
Last November, two days before the season opener with Cal State Bakersfield, Saunders collapsed during a team practice and died at the hospital a little over an hour later.
The team members wore black patches with the initials "RS" on their uniform shorts to honor Saunders.
"It was tough but it made us thrive," Allen said. "When things were tough, we were looking to him to get us up."
McLean agreed that Saunders' death was difficult on the team.
"It was tough in the beginning," McLean said. "I mean, it's always tough when someone close to you dies. We played for him and used that to our advantage. We dedicated the season to him."
The Gators' top 3-point man McLean, ended the year with 45 3-pointers and 180 points.
"We had an up-and-down season," McLean said. "It was a roller coaster. We were hot sometimes, but sometimes we just weren't on."
Averaging eight points per game, Braden finished his season with 217 points, a team-leading .607 field goal percentage and 107 rebounds.
"We were fighting out our roles all season," Braden said. "We couldn't get into the team aspect, but I think we brought it together toward the end."
Averaging 10.1 rebounds per game, Williams recorded 274 boards, 548 points and blocked 103 shots in the season.
Williams ended his collegiate career with the Gators as SF State's all-time leader in points (2,090), rebounds (951) and blocks (222).
Scoring 30 or more points on 10 occasions, Williams also tallied 40 double-doubles (double figures in points and rebounds).
Williams was a three-time first team All-NCAC selection. He was also named twice to the second team All-West Region and given honorable mention for All-American in the 1991-92 and '92-93 seasons. He won the NCAC Player of the Week title eight times.
As a sophomore, Williams was selected NCAC Player of the Year when he recorded 543 points and 217 rebounds.