Gators have prevailed against playoff-bound Golden Eagles on Senior Day-Gate XPress

On Saturday, Gators Men's Basketball closed her season 2024-25 with an 89:87 win against California State University, Los Angeles Golden Eagles, who won the last Playoff place after the games on Thursday.

The Gators were 21-10 at the home court against their cross-state rivals. They have not lost against the Golden Eagles since March 5, 2019.

In the term of office of head coach Vince Inglima, the Gators have a 10: 5 record against the Golden Eagles, including a 70-65 street victory in January this season. Inlima is familiar with the different energy and intensity that these two teams bring against each other.

“The San Francisco-La rivalry is always good,” said Inglima. “We had so many competition games. We played a lot in the off -season. They thrown us out of the playoffs last year, so it's really nice to get the Feget this year. “

Although the gators were unable to do the tournaments like their opponents, Inlima said: “It's always nice to win your last” of the season.

The Gators always expect an aggressive matchup against the Golden Eagles, and the game on Saturday was no different.

“You will always be a competitive game, and we usually always have a fun matchup against you,” said Tyjean Burrell, Senior Guard from Redshirt. “If we know that we play them, we have a lot of energy and we know that they will bring it too.”

Before the season, the gators were honored at the Senior Day, where every senior gator athlete with its associated jersey received a large frame.

“The coaches and the parents really put a lot of effort into ensuring that it was something special for us,” said Senior Guard Devon Jackson. “We had a lot of people who have been here for five years. So it was cool that everyone flocked to us this evening.”

In the starting line -up of Gator, seniors opened their last game as Gators, including John Bakke, Burrell, Jackson, Alex Gilat and Pearse Unippee.

The Gators showed a strong performance in the first half and achieved some important 3-pointers, including three from Jackson, who scored 11 points in the first 20 games.

“Devon is a great guy to mention because he had a hard career of ups and downs, injuries and some challenges,” said Inglima. “This year he really tried to shoot the ball, but he continues to work and appears every day with a positive attitude, competing and getting better. So it feels so good for him to have this final stone for his career to take these recordings and play a major role for us to achieve our last victory. “

Burrell also scored 11 points and both seniors were combined for 22 points at half time. The hosts went into the break with a lead of 42-28 against the Golden Eagles.

The Golden Eagles tried to close their 14-point gap because they had a press at full start and increased their aggression against the gators.

In the first seven minutes of the second half, the Golden eagles got on the way to approaching two points to the Gator.

Inlima said the team expected the strong setback of its visitors after their first success in the first half.

“They were a slow start team,” said Inglima. “Even on Thursday they went big to East Bay and then came back and won, so we were ready for it. They are very sporty and aggressive. We somehow jumped in this second half, but I thought we showed a lot of balance, took control and done enough. “

At that time, Bakke got warm on the scoreboard. The senior striker collected 12 points in the second half, including three, which his team held away from the Golden Eagles.

In the last 10 minutes, the 16 free throws of the Gator were on the line. The 16 of their 47 points in the second half turned out to be decisive for their victorious termination of their 2024-25 campaign.

Three high -ranking gators were their leading goal scorers, including Burrell (19 points), Bakke (18 points) and Jackson (13 points). The Gator ended their season 11-17 with a 9-13 conference record.

Burrell was proud of his performance in his last game in purple and gold and said it was easy to see how the shots go in the way after a break -in in the last games.

“It was nice to see how the ball went back to the edge for me,” said Burrell. “I have the feeling that these last few games don't fall and I'm glad today that they fell in my senior evening.”

Inlima said the team had five seniors who have 19 years of Gator Basketball experience and graduated this year. He said it was important for her to end your career on the swamp in the best possible way.

“It was nice to see that people like Alex and Devon, who did not have so much opportunity to get out, appear and play a few big games for us in their career,” said Inglima. “Tyjean, Pearse and John also made some big games for us on the track, as they always did to end with a good positive note while they continue.”

Bakke said her final game personally worth the gator despite her circumstances.

“We had five seniors, three who have been here for a long time, and they only want our legacy and what it means for us,” said Bakke. “We just came out the energy that they didn't have for obvious reasons and it worked in our favor.”

When the high -ranking gators closed their career in College career, the emotions and the realization came about. Burrell said he finally met that this chapter would end for him.

“This morning I came in early and just soaked it in and looked around,” said Burrell. This was the school that I decided to go to the junior college. It is a blessing, all of my experiences here are good and bad and I'm looking forward to the future. “

Jackson said he would stop it after this season, but he plans to be in the future in the future. Jackson said that he would miss the relationships and competitiveness that the game brought him and the boys.

“Come every day and compete with people with whom I really build relationships,” said Jackson. “When new teammates come and go, these bonds are only made and I have the feeling that they only maximize them if they climb and compete every day.”

This season, the team had to overcome and appear in Jailen Daniel-Dalton due to a shoulder injury without another important starter in Jailen, who launched the senior for the 2024-25 campaign. Inglima said he was proud of his boys that he had taken on the challenge and played a great time in the season.

“It is not easy to do to replace a big piece based on injuries,” said Inglima. “I am very happy about your attitudes, the energy you bring every day, and really the culture that you convey in our program and live after leaving.”