SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - Picking up another dominant win at home, the University of San Francisco men's basketball team (10-4) used a second half surge to take down Fresno State (6-6), 77-57, on Friday evening at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center.
 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

• Matching each other out of the gates, Fresno State scored the first four points of the ballgame to get the evening started, but San Francisco responded by knocking down back-to-back three-pointers courtesy of Malik Thomas and Marcus Williams to take their first lead of the night, 6-4, at 17:33.
• After the Bulldogs fought back to retake their advantage, 9-8, following a layup from Isaac Tavares at 15:33, Ryan Beasley cashed in on a triple of his own at 14:42 to put the Dons back in front, 11-10.
• Over the next three-plus minutes, the green and gold found their rhythm offensively as USF used a 10-0 run to stretch their lead to double digits, 21-10, after Williams nailed a jumper in the paint at 10:47. Shortly thereafter, Fresno State answered with an 8-0 run of their own to make it a three-point contest, 21-18, with 7:56 remaining in the first half.
• Following a few more buckets on each side, Mike Sharavjamts laced a trey at 4:41 to widen the gap to nine for the Dons, 34-25.
• Converting on a jumper with 2:20 left, Isaiah Hill made it a two-point game for the Bulldogs, but the Dons closed out the final minutes of the half by outscoring the Bulldogs 5-2 to take a five-point lead, 39-34, heading into the locker room.
• Out of the break, San Francisco was steady offensively as a free throw from Ndewedo Newbury at 16:16 extended USF's lead back to ten, 47-37. In the next minute and 24 seconds, the Dons reeled off a 7-0 run capped off by a dunk from Jonathan Mogbo to make it a sixteen-point lead, 53-37.
• Near the midway mark of the second half, Isaiah Hawthorne converted on a three-pointer of his own to stretch San Francisco's advantage to 18 (59-41) at 10:05.
• Neither side would find the bottom of the net in the following three minutes before Williams lined up a triple at 6:56 to make it a 21-point game, 62-41.
• Experiencing little resistance down the stretch, the green and gold grew their advantage to as many as 23 points in the final minutes of the contest. Providing an impact off the bench, a jumper from Beasley made it 72-49 in favor of USF with 4:12 left on the game clock.
• Holding on for their seventh win at home this season, San Francisco secured a 20-point victory over the Bulldogs on Friday night by a final score of 77-57.  

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:

• Pouring in a career-high for the second straight game, Thomas was tabbed Player of the Game after finishing with 22 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal on 8-of-12 from the floor and 4-of-6 from distance. Notably, he also knocked down both of his free throws against Fresno State.
• Alongside Thomas, Williams (11 points) and Sharavjamts (10 points) also tallied double figures in the win.
• As a team, San Francisco knocked down 15 three-pointers for the second game in a row while limiting the Bulldogs to just 3-of-18 (16.7 percent) from beyond-the-arc. Overall, the Dons also led Fresno State in points off turnovers (20-13), second chance points (12-8), fast break points (10-9), total rebounds (30-28), assists (15-6) and steals (11-6). 

POSTGAME WITH THE DONS:

• To view the full highlights of tonight's contest, please click here.
• To view the full postgame interview with head coach Chris Gerlufsen and Malik Thomas, please click here.

UP NEXT:
San Francisco will rest for the next week as the Dons will return to action on Saturday, Dec. 30 when they welcome Mississippi Valley State to the Hilltop for their final nonconference game of the season. Live streaming, radio, live statistics and ticket links are available via the team's schedule page.
 
FOLLOW US:
For updates and more information on the San Francisco men's basketball program, follow the Dons @USFDonsMBB on Twitter, @USFDonsMBB on Instagram and @USFDonsMBB on Facebook.
 
MERCHANDISE:
Want to dress like the Dons? Get your official San Francisco Dons gear from the University of San Francisco bookstore today! Click here to purchase.
 
SPONSOR THE DONS:
The University of San Francisco Athletics Department would like to acknowledge and thank our sponsor - Planet Orange - for their continued support of USF Athletics. Interested in sponsoring the Dons? Please contact Frank Allocco, the Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director of External Relations, at fallocco@usfca.edu or at (415) 422-4561.