ROHNERT PARK. – Sean Park played like a man possessed. His teammates played like men who needed a rest. Park recorded game highs of 20 points and eight rebounds, but he couldn’t single-handedly rally the Chico State men’s basketball team past Sonoma State in a 61-54 loss Monday night in Rohnert Park.
The rest of Chico State’s starting lineup combined for just 21 points on 5-of-23 shooting and the bench was just 5-for-15, seemingly fatigued both mentally and physically after Saturday’s huge win at Humboldt State and five straight road games to start their California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) slate.
Sonoma State, meanwhile, played like the desperate team that it was, still in search of its first CCAA win. Steven Pratt was near perfect, finishing with 13 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and a steal and Justin Herold came off the bench to score 12 points. Pratt also pestered Wildcats leading scorer Damario Sims all night, limiting him to just five points on 1-of-5 shooting.
Chico State fell to 7-3 overall and 2-3 in the CCAA with the loss. The Wildcats got nine points and four assists from Jay Flores, who moved to within one assist of tying Antone Curtis for fifth on the school’s career assists list.
Sonoma State improved to 3-6 overall and 1-4 in the CCAA with its 14th home win against Chico State in the last 15 meetings between the teams.
The Seawolves led by as many as eight on six different occasions, but the Wildcats had enough in the tank to stay within striking distance. They just couldn’t ever get over the top. A Jordan Semple 3-pointer cut it to 39-36 with 16:26 to play and A Josh Jackson trey made it 41-39 three minutes later. But each time, the Seawolves countered and push the advantage back up a bucket or two.
Chico State’s last real good opportunity to catch Sonoma State came after Semple’s jumper with 3:57 left trimmed the lead to 53-49. But they missed two shots in a row and a pair of free throws that could have cut further into Sonoma State’s advantage.
The Wildcats will be back in action on Dec. 29 when they travel to Pacifica College for a non-conference affair. They’ll then return home to play nine of their next 11 conference games beginning Tuesday, Jan. 2, against Cal State Stanislaus.
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