Stop. Please go to your iPod, your CD collection – heck some of you may still have it on cassette – and get out some Tom Petty before you continue reading. This one calls for a soundtrack. (Pick and choose from the links if you don't have your own Petty collection.)

The Chico State men’s basketball team wouldn't back down against 4th-ranked Cal State Dominguez Hills. They just couldn’t quite catch up. Marcquintice Davis and Michael Cox combined for 42 points on 16-of-22 shooting and the Wildcats failed to overcome a big breakdown on boards in a 76-66 loss Friday night at Acker Gym.

Chico State trailed by as many as 20 early in the second half against a Toros team riding a nine-game winning streak and sitting atop the NCAA West Region rankings and California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) standings. Mike Baca, the long-time radio voice of the Wildcats, told me during one break that they’re the best CCAA team he’s ever seen. I answered, “I’d like to see the three teams ranked ahead of these guys,” with a scoff. At the very least, teams like this don’t come around here very often.

But the Wildcats showed some serious scrap, using a 19-5 run to get back into the game and get the crowd of 1,225 back into as well. Dominguez Hills responded, as expected, and quickly pushed their lead, cut to six for a moment, back to 14. Then the Wildcats rallied again, getting 3-pointers from Rashad Parker and Damario Sims to help close the lead to six once again. They looked as though they may be running down a dream, but Davis closed the door completely with a tear-drop bucket in the lane and the two free throws that followed.

Davis finished with 25 points on 8-of-13 shooting, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range, and knocked down all five of his free throws. Michael Cox was 8-of-9 from the floor and scored 17 points. Zareh Zargaryan chipped in 12 points as the Toros improved to 16-1 overall and 12-1 in the CCAA.

Chico State fell to 10-7 overall and 6-7 in the CCAA. The Wildcats, alone in seventh in the conference standings, host sixth-place Cal State L.A. Saturday at approximately 7:30, following the women’s game.

But on the same night Roderick Hawkins recorded his 500th career rebound, becoming the 11th player in Chico State history to reach that plateau, the Wildcats were absolutely annihilated on the boards. Dominguez Hills’ walls in the front court – 7-footer Amir Aguilar, 6-foot-9 James Cawthorne, the 6-foot-8 Cox, and the 6-foot-6 Zargaryan– helped the Toros grab 20 of the game’s first 24 misses and outrebound the Wildcats 42-21 on the night.

Thanks in part to their 13 offensive rebounds, the Toros enjoyed a 15-5 edge in second-chance points and a 34-12 advantage in points in the paint.

Surprisingly, it was the Chico State bench that had been free-falling that suddenly started learning to fly, giving the Wildcats a big lift. Led by freshman Rashad Parker’s career-high 14 points, the Wildcats reserves outscored Dominguez Hills’ 20-12.

Point guard Jay Flores also had a nice game for the Wildcats, finished with 12 points, nine assists, two steals and only one turnover. Sean Park pitched in 11 points and Terence Pellum 10. Hawkins, who had been averaging 17.0 points and 7.2 rebounds over his last six games, was limited to five points on two-of-three shooting and four rebounds. He also turned the ball over five times.

A pre-game technical on the Toros for failing to submit a lineup in timely fashion allowed the Wildcats to take a 2-0 lead before a single tick of the clock. They led 5-4 a little over three minutes in, but the Toros used a 13-1 run to take control of the game.

Down 18 at the break, the Wildcats used a Park 3-pointer and Pellum's 3-pointer play to draw to within 44-32, but Davis drained a 3-pointer, a jumper in the lane, and another trey on the Toros' next three possessions to push the lead to its largest of the night at 52-32 with 17:16 remaining.

Josh Jackson's 3-pointer and five quick points from Parker made it a 12-point game, and two minutes later Flores found net with a 3-pointer to trim the lead to 55-45 with 11:06 to go.

The Toros would go six minutes without a field goal (though they did make five free throws) while their lead was cut into further. A four-minute drought by the Wildcats coincided (they made four free throws during that time), however, so a Sims jumper with 7:10 to play still left Dominguez Hills with a 57-51 advantage. Zargaryan hit a pair of free throws and Tim McLaurin made a 3-pointer to stretch the lead to 62-51, and then Zargaryan scored on the Toros' next two trips to make it 66-52 with 3:53 remaining.

Flores, Parker and Sims sank 3-pointers over the next two-plus minutes to get the lead back down to six before Davis dealt the final blow.

BOX SCORE

GAME NOTES — Hawkins, now with 502 career rebounds, moved past David Fluker (1990-92) into 10th on the school's career rebounding list...Saturday will mark Hawkins' 100th game in a Chico State uniform...Flores, who has distributed 29 assists over the past four games, moved past Frank Lopez (1986-88) into ninth on the school's career assists list with 214...The Toros entered the game ranked first in the nation in field goal-percentage defenseat 36.1 percent. The Wildcats shot 39.6 percent...Chico State's 66 points are actually the third most scored against the Toros all season...The Wildcats, 9-0 when allowing fewer than 70 points this season, fell to 1-7 when allowing 70 or more...The Wildcats have lost five of their last six at home against Dominguez Hills and 10 of their last 12 against the Toros overall...Hawkins was the only Wildcat to play more than 29 minutes.