Five minutes into the second half of its New Year’s Day game against Stanislaus State, the Chico State men’s basketball team found itself down 10 points to the Warriors and in urgent need of someone to step up and provide an offensive spark. Enter Joshua Hamilton—in less than a minute, the junior guard had single-handedly cut the deficit in half, and kept the ’Cats in the contest down the stretch by burying three 3-pointers in the final seven minutes of play. Hamilton’s critical crunch-time contributions make him the latest Wildcat of the Week.
Though Stanislaus ultimately prevailed 68-65, Hamilton delivered a career-best five 3-pointers to finish with a game-high 17 points. The Modesto native shot 6-of-11 from the field, while also filling up the stat sheet with four rebounds, four assists, two blocked shots and a steal.
Hamilton, who has posted double figures in the scoring column in six of the 10 games he has played this season, is currently second on the Wildcats and 17th in the CCAA in scoring, averaging 13.2 points a game. He ranks third among all conference players in assists per game (4.4) and fourth in total assists (44). Hamilton also is fourth in the CCAA in free throw percentage (77.8 percent).
Hamilton and the Chico State men’s basketball team returns to the friendly confines of Acker Gym this week for a pair of CCAA contests. Thursday the Wildcats host Cal State Dominguez Hills, followed by a Saturday afternoon showdown with Cal State East Bay.
