CARSON – The story of the 2009-10 Chico State men’s basketball team has been one of overcoming obstacles. The Wildcats overcame the stigma of four straight losing seasons with a California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA)-best seven-game improvement over last season under second year Head Coach Greg Clink. Guard Jon Baird is the team’s leading scorer despite spending two years away from the game before this, his senior season. In the face of taller opposition week in and week out, 6-foot-2 junior forward Roderick Hawkins has been arguably the team’s most valuable player while ranking third in the CCAA in rebounding. And many of the team’s six freshmen have made Clink proud when pressed into duty with the game on the line.
The Wildcats have faced their obstacles with enthusiasm and courage. It’s a good thing, because perhaps their biggest hurdle of the season looms Tuesday night – a third matchup against a Cal State Dominguez Hills team that has beaten them handily twice already this season – in the opening round of the CCAA Championship Tournament. Tipoff at the Torodome in Carson is scheduled for 7 pm.
The game will be broadcast locally on ESPN Radio 101.7 FM and 1340 AM and will also be available on www.chicowildcats.com’s Wildcat Webcast link.
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The Wildcats earned the No. 5 seed in the tournament by finishing alone in fifth place in the CCAA’s final regular-season standings at 15-12 overall and 11-11 in the CCAA. Cal State Dominguez Hills finished fourth and earned the No. 4 seed.
But the Toros are as hot as any team in the CCAA, having won 11 of their last 13 games, and are now among those teams aiming for an at-large berth in the NCAA Championship Tournament. Two of those victories came at the expense of Chico State. The Wildcats were beaten handily each time.
In a 55-40 loss to the Toros on Jan. 23 in Chico, the Wildcats were held to their lowest point total since a 77-37 loss to DePaul University on Dec. 4, 1988. The last time a non-Division I team had held the Wildcats to so few points was when Pasadena Nazarene beat them 50-32 during the 1952-53 season. The Wildcats shot just 22.6 percent from the floor – the Wildcats’ lowest percentage since joining the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) for the 1998-99 season – including 7.7 percent on their 3-point attempts (2-of-26). The Toros blocked eight shots and changed many more with their length and pressure.
The teams met for the second time last Thursday in Carson, and though the Wildcats’ offense was more effective and the score looked more respectable, the Toros won with relative ease. They outrebounded Chico State 40-20, limiting the Wildcats to their fewest rebounds since 2007. Cal State Dominguez Hills also limited Baird to a season-low two shot attempts and a season-low three points in a suffocating display of ball denial and on-the-ball harassment. Meanwhile, Terence Pellum made just 1-of-8 shots and Zach Graves converted only two of six as Dominguez Hills severely limited three of the Wildcats’ top four scoring options.
Thursday’s loss was Chico State’s seventh in the last eight games against Dominguez Hills and its fourth straight loss in the Torodome. Chico State’s last win there came on Jan. 14, 2006.
The bright spots in that loss were the play of Hawkins and three freshmen – 7-foot center Jason Conrad, explosive scorer Damario Sims, and lightening-quick guard Powell Lee. Hawkins was Chico State’s lone consistent producer on the offensive end thanks to a variety of aggressive post moves and good foul shooting. The three freshmen combined for 31 points.
Those kinds of performances lend hope to the Wildcats since Baird and Pellum have each played two of their worst games of the season against Dominguez Hills. And they can turn things around Tuesday, even just a bit, one would have to think the Wildcats have a chance to pull off the upset. Baird, who averages 14-plus points per game and has led the Wildcats to a 15-5 mark when he scores 11 points or more, made just 2-of-9 shots, including 1-of-8 threes, and scored only five points in the first game. He got off only two shots in 26 minutes of the second meeting, knocking down 1-of-2 threes. Meanwhile, Pellum has averaged 10.4 points per game in the Wildcats’ other 25 contests, but has scored only five points on 2-of-11 shooting combined in the two losses to Dominguez Hills.
The winner of Tuesday night’s contests advances to Friday’s semifinal round at Humboldt State’s Lumberjack Arena in Arcata. The winner of that game will advance to Saturday’s CCAA Championship Tournament final with the conference’s automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament on the line.
In other first-round action Tuesday, top seed Cal Poly Pomona hosts No. 8 Cal State L.A., No. 2 Humboldt State hosts No. 7 Sonoma State, and No. 3 Cal State San Bernardino is hosting No. 6 San Francisco State.
