Dikembe Mutombo had the finger wag. Terence Pellum has Mr. Wilson. And Greg Clink has his Chico State men's basketball team off to another historic start.

Pellum swatted away three shots, and each time Chico State Public Address Announcer Jim Wilson’s voice boomed: “Pellum says no!” The rest of the Wildcats followed suit, denying the visiting Cal State Stanislaus offense at nearly every turn while limiting the Warriors to just 15 first-half points. Chico State then held on for a 61-59 win Wednesday night at Acker Gym.

The 15 first-half points match the fourth fewest allowed by a Wildcats team on record as they improved to 6-1 for the second straight season and just the second time since the 1944-45 campaign. They have a chance to become the first Chico State team to start 7-1 since the 1942-43 season when they host Pacific Union Saturday night at 7 PM before a 19-day layoff for finals and holiday festivities.

Pellum, who also led the Wildcats on the offensive end with 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting, solidified his standing as one of the CCAA’s top centers in the process. The a 6-foot-7 senior from Seaside ranks second in the CCAA with 1.9 blocked shots per game and second in shooting accuracy at 68 percent. He’s also moving up the Chico State career blocked shots ladder, having rejected 40 shots in just a year and seven games to move into a tie with Bryant Tyler for 10th place in Wildcats’ history.

Damario Sims chipped in 11 points for the Wildcats, who improved to 3-1 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA). Sean Park hit 7-of-8 free throws and joined Roderick Hawkins with nine points, Jay Flores notched eight points and matched his career high with eight boards, and Spencer Moyer gave the Wildcats some much-needed mojo off the bench with a pair of 3-pointers and a career-high seven points.

With the win, the Wildcats are alone in second place in conference play, a half game behind first-place San Francisco State and half game ahead of third-place Cal State Dominguez Hills, Cal State L.A. and Cal State Monterey Bay. Their first season sweep of Cal State Stanislaus since 2004-05 has sparked their hot start. The Wildcats opened this season with a 64-59 victory over the Warriors in Turlock on Nov. 18.

Reggie Jones led Cal State Stanislaus (2-4, 1-3 overall) with 18 points, 16 of which came in the second half. Dan Daviess finished with 11, thanks in part to a banked home 3-pointer with 34 seconds remaining that cut Chico State’s once-large lead to 57-54.

Sean Park made two free throws and Jay Flores another, but Jones answered with a 3-pointer with 11 seconds left to again give the Warriors hope. After a Chico State turnover, Marcus Lever was fouled with five seconds left and made two free throws to trim the lead to one.

Sims was fouled on the ensuing inbounds play and made one of two shots, setting the stage for Lever’s desperation 3-pointer that rimmed off at the buzzer.

It was perhaps fitting that the game ended with a ball clanging off the iron. An offensive clinic this game was not. The teams combined to miss their first 15 shots before Tyler Hair’s bucket tied the game at 2-apiece nearly six minutes in. The Wildcats didn’t make a shot from the field until the 13:12 mark. Still, it gave the Wildcats a 7-4 lead. It was a lead they would never surrender.

They held onto it the same way they stayed in the game through the first seven minutes, by penetrating into the paint off the dribble and drawing fouls to get to the free throw line. Chico State made a season-high 24-of-36 from the stripe. No Wildcats squad had made or attempted more free throws since they hit 32-of-44 in a loss to Central Washington on Nov. 18, 2005.

The Wildcats also got Warriors leading scorer Reggie Jones in foul trouble. The CCAA’s second-leading scorer coming in, Jones lost patience - he had missed his first three shots, one of which was sent packing by Pellum – and barreled into the lane en route to an offensive foul at the 14:45 mark of the first half. Pellum pestered Jones into two more misses before he finally got on the board with an offensive rebound and bucket nearly 13 minutes in. But Jones fouled Moyer a little over a minute later and went to the bench for the rest of the half.

Moyer, who made 1-of-2 free throws following the foul, also nailed a 3-pointer in the opening stanza, and the sophomore from San Diego who had scored only five career points entering the evening went into halftime with four points in three minutes of action.

The Wildcats started the second stanza with a 28-15 edge thanks in part to an 11-0 run started by Moyer’s charity shot. Pellum made five free throws during that stretch as Chico State pushed its lead to 28-13. Only a loose ball foul with one second left and the two free throws by Stanislaus’ Prince Abidoye kept the Wildcats from holding the Warriors without a point over the final 6:13 of the half.

Jones scored eight points during the first eight minutes of the second half to keep the game from getting out of hand. The Warriors had closed the gap to eight when Moyer came off the bench and buried his second 3-pointer of the night and third of his career. A 3-pointer by Sims two possessions later pushed the lead to 12. But Cal State Stanislaus, which watched Chico State come back from 15 points down in 15 minutes to beat them last month, had visions of returning the favor.

Evan Scott’s back-to-back buckets paved the way for a modest 11-4 run that pulled the Warriors to within five with 2:55 to play. However, Pellum presumably pushed in the dagger with back-to-back jumpers in the lane to make it 56-47 with only 1:55 left.

But the last two minutes turned into an eternity for the 851 Chico State fans in attendance.

Daviess made a pair of free throws and Brett Sayad’s rebound and putback that followed cut the lead to 56-51. Flores then made one-of-two free throws with 43 seconds left before Daviess banked home a 3-pointer from the right wing. Suddenly it was a three-point game (57-54) with 34 seconds left.

Just three seconds ticked off the clock before Park was fouled. But he calmed the crowd by canning both free throws, and after the bank closed on Daviess’ next attempt, Flores made one-of-two free throws to stretch the lead to 60-54. Everyone was breathing easy with 18 seconds to play.

Not so seven seconds later. Jones drained a 3-pointer, and then Park zigged precisely when Hawkins threw the ball to where he thought he would zag, resulting in a turnover. The Warriors had the ball with a chance to tie.

Instead, Flores fouled Lever, who sank both free throws to trim the lead to one. Sims sank the second of two free throws with four seconds left. Lever covered the length of the court quickly and got up an off-balance shot from the right wing. But for the 35th time in 54 Warriors attempts, it clanged heavily off the iron.

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