CHICO, Calif – Another promising start ended with another second-half setback for the Chico State men’s basketball team Saturday night against Cal Poly Pomona. The Wildcats buried 8-of-14 3-pointers to race to a 34-26 halftime lead but scored just 17 points in the second half as the Broncos came from behind to win 59-51 at Acker Gym. It was the fifth straight time and the 11th time this season the Wildcats have lost after leading in the second half.
Cal Poly Pomona’s Larry Gordon led all players with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Austin Swift scored 12 points for the Broncos, who improved to 13-6 overall and 9-5 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA). Robert Summers contributed 10 off the bench.
Chico State, which fell to 6-15 overall and 3-11 in the CCAA with its fifth straight loss overall and sixth straight loss at home, got a team-high 17 points from Justin Argenal. Argenal made four of his career-high five 3-pointers in an impressive first half in which he scored 14 points. Zach Graves finished with 15 points and Andy Bocian scored 13, including 11 in the first half. Josh Jackson finished with a team-high eight rebounds to go along with four assists, two steals, and three points.
Argenal made two threes and Bocian and Graves one apiece during the game’s first five minutes as the Wildcats built a 12-6 lead. The Broncos battled back to go in front 16-15, but Argenal nailed 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to put Chico State in front 21-16.
Cal Poly briefly reclaimed the lead on a Gordon three-point play, but Bocian scored the game’s next eight points and the Wildcats grabbed control of the game.
They led by eight at the half, but went 6:42 into the second half before scoring. By then, Bocian’s layup was only good for a 36-35 lead. That was the first of six times the lead would change hands in the following 10 minutes.
The Wildcats grabbed their last lead, 46-44, on Graves’ driving bucket with 5:20 to play. Swift tied the game with a jumper on Cal Poly Pomona’s next possession, however, and then hit a huge 3-pointer with 2:27 left that stretched the Broncos’ lead to 51-46.
Chico State trimmed the lead to three on a pair of Roderick Hawkins free throws, but the Wildcats missed 3-pointers on their next three possessions while Cal Poly Pomona scored six unanswered points to put the game away.
Chico State is back in action next Friday when it travels to take on Sonoma State and Humboldt State, respectively. The Wildcats wrap up their 2008-09 home campaign on Feb. 25 and Feb. 26 against Cal State Stanislaus and UC San Diego.
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