Everyone loves a dynamic duo. Bert and Ernie, Bo and Luke Duke, Mario and Luigi are some of our favorites. If you’re a Chico State basketball fan, add Flores and The Flash to that list. Jay “Flores” Flores and Damario “The Flash” Sims each scored a career-high 21 points to lead the Chico State men’s basketball team to a vital 62-58 victory against defending National Champion Cal Poly Pomona Friday night at Acker Gym.
Flores scored 15 points in the second half, including eight in the final 3:33 as the Wildcats finished the game with a 17-8 flourish. The Flash stuck 8-of-12 shots, including 4-of-6 3-pointers, and also dished out a team-high five assists.
The Wildcats remained in a tie for sixth place in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA), improving to 13-10 overall and 9-10 in the CCAA. But they took a huge step toward securing their second straight CCAA Championship Tournament berth. Cal State Stanislaus dropped a game behind the Wildcats and Cal State L.A. into eighth with its loss to Cal State San Bernardino (Chico State’s opponent Saturday night) Friday. And Sonoma State beat Cal State Monterey Bay, dropping the Otters into a ninth-place tie with the Seawolves two games behind the Wildcats. UC San Diego, three games behind Chico State, kept its slim playoff hopes alive by shocking Cal State Dominguez Hills. The top eight teams at the end of the CCAA schedule advance to the CCAA Championship Tournament.
Just three games now separate six teams still in the hunt. But the Wildcats could clinch a postseason spot with a win Saturday night and losses by Cal State Stanislaus and Cal State Monterey Bay.
The Wildcats are hoping to get out of that cluster and take a shot at a seed as high as fourth after Friday’s big win. They now trail fifth-place Cal Poly Pomona (13-9 overall and 10-8 in the CCAA) by a game and a half and tomorrow night’s opponent, Cal State San Bernardino, by two and a half games with three to play.
Sims soared to the bucket for four of his eight baskets and drained four deep 3-pointers as well to break out of a nine-game slide in which he’d averaged just 7.2 points per game. He was a picture of consistency. He scored or assisted on the Wildcats’ first two buckets of the first half and their last five, and went to the break with 11 points and three assists. He made their first two baskets of the second half and scored or dropped a dime on four of their last five, finishing that half with 10 points and two assists.
Flores mostly kept his feet firmly on the ground. He did most of his damage from 3-point range dropping in 4-of-9 shots from distance. He hit 7-of-8 free throws and also drove to the hoop for a key layup.
Flores and The Flash fueled a 10-0 run that turned a late five-point deficit into a five-point lead during the deciding four-minute run. Cal Poly Pomona had a 50-45 lead and the ball with five minutes to play, but Sims raced the other way with Sean Park’s steal and soared up and around the 6-foot-8 Tobias Jahn, scoring the basket and drawing contact. He made the free throw and the Wildcats’ deficit was only two. Sims set up Flores with a good look on the perimeter a couple possessions later and the point guard knocked it home to give the Wildcats a 51-50 lead they would not surrender.
Flores flicked a layup off the glass and in from the right angle to stretch the lead to 53-50 with 2:42 remaining and then Sims drew the defense before dishing to Park for an easy score at the rim to stretch the lead to 55-50 with 1:01 to go.
The Wildcats made just two of four free throws over the next 38 seconds and saw their lead dwindle to three, then two, and then one on Mitchel Anderson’s layup with 25 seconds left.
Flores fended them off though, sinking a pair of charity shots to stretch the edge to 59-56. Then Terence Pellum pulled a defensive board, was fouled, and sank two more to put the game in the bank with nine seconds to play.
Pellum pulled down a team-high six rebounds and scored five points. Park finished with three points, four rebounds, two assists and a steal. Roderick Hawkins chipped in five points and three boards. And Amir Carraway contributed four points, four rebounds and a steal in 10 productive minutes off the bench.
The Wildcats raced to a 21-10 lead, but saw it trimmed to 25-21 by the half. Two Pomona possessions into the second half the score was tied at 25.
The Broncos took their largest lead of the game with 10:17 left at 43-38. But Spencer Moyer dished to Rashad Parker for a 3-pointer and then Flores flushed a pair of free throws to tie the game for the fourth time in the second half.
Pomona pulled back into the lead moments later, however, and Matt Rosser’s dunk with 6:12 remaining gave the Broncos a 50-45 lead. Then, in a Flash and a Flores, the Wildcats ran away with the win.
Chico State hosts Cal State San Bernardino Saturday at 7:30. But a senior ceremony before the game, the last on the home floor for Wildcat seniors Hawkins, Pellum, Zach Graves and Chris Sharp, will take place before the game.
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