Tyrone Riley IV scored 16 points and San Francisco scored four points in the final eight seconds to defeat Mississippi State 65-62 on Sunday in Tupelo, Miss.
Ryan Beasley added 12 points as the Dons (6-4) ended a three-game losing streak.
Jordan Epps scored 21 and Ja’Borri McGhee added 13 for the Bulldogs (4-5), who lost leading scorer Josh Hubbard to a lower leg injury just two 2:27 into the game.
Mississippi State scored six straight points to take a 62-61 lead with 24 seconds left.
Mookie Cook made two free throws with eight seconds left to put the Dons ahead before Riley made a steal and dunk with five seconds left. Epps’ 3-pointer missed before the buzzer.
Riley’s dunk started the second-half scoring and gave San Francisco a 32-22 lead. Epps’ 3-pointer started Mississippi State’s scoring and the Bulldogs got within seven a second time.
Riley’s 3-pointer and a dunk by Guillermo Diaz Graham pushed the lead to 39-27, but Mississippi State closed within seven points three times before Legend Smiley’s layup pushed the lead to nine.
The Bulldogs closed within 48-46, but Vukasin Masic made a 3-pointer and Diaz Graham added a layup for a seven-point lead.
Brandon Walker made consecutive layups and Epps added a 3-pointer to tie the score at 56. Beasley’s layup broke the tie and the Dons opened a five-point lead.
San Francisco led 13-5 as Mississippi State made just two field goals in the first seven minutes.
Sergej made a layup and a jumper during a 7-0 run that pulled the Bulldogs within one point. Cook’s layup stopped the run in the middle of the first half, but Dellquan Warren made a 3-pointer to tie the score at 15.
Riley scored on a dunk to break the tie and added a jumper before Beasley’s two free throws pushed the Dons’ lead to six. Epps cut the lead in half by making a 3-pointer, but Beasley had a jumper and a 3-pointer to expand the lead to 26-18.
The lead reached 10 before Epps beat the buzzer with a layup that left San Francisco with a 30-22 halftime lead.
–Field Level Media
