Chico State’s first half defense was a juggernaut. Its second half defense was just not good enough. After limiting Cal State San Bernardino to 16 first-half points, the Wildcats gave up 16 in the first five minutes of the second half and a total of 51 after intermission in a 67-60 loss to the Coyotes on Senior Night Saturday at Acker Gym. But all was not lost Saturday. By virtue of losses by Cal State Monterey Bay and Cal State Stanislaus, the Wildcats won a berth in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Championship Tournament for the second straight season.
Damario Sims (13 points), Sean Park (12), Roderick Hawkins (11), Terence Pellum (10) and Jay Flores (10) each scored in double-figures for the Wildcats, who were as close as three two times in the final three minutes. But the Coyotes made seven straight free throws down the stretch and 20-of-24 in the second half to hold the Wildcats off.
Chico State fell to 13-11 overall and 9-11 in the CCAA. The Wildcats will be the No. 6, 7, or 8 seed at the CCAA Championship Tournament, which they’ll begin March 1 on the road against one of the conference’s top three seeds. They will travel to Humboldt State, Cal State Dominguez Hills, San Francisco State, Cal State San Bernardino or Cal Poly Pomona. The winners of the March 1 games will advance to play a semifinal game at Cal State East Bay March 4 with a berth in the March 5 title game on the line. The winner of the CCAA Championship earns an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Theron Laudermill and Kwame Alexander combined for 29 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the floor and 15-of-18 shooting from the free throw line to lead Cal State San Bernardino (14-9, 12-7 CCAA). The Coyotes turned the ball over just seven times in the game and shot 64 percent in the second half, including 3-of-3 from beyond the arc.
In the first half, the Coyotes’ only real good looks came from 3-point range and they made just 2-of-13. Meanwhile, Chico State led by as many as seven, though the Wildcats also struggled to knock down shots, hitting only 2-of-10 from beyond the arc. Still, a Flores 3-pointer gave them an 18-11 edge with 6:02 to play in the half.
But between that bucket and Sims’ buzzer-beater to end the half, the Wildcats missed four shots, two free throws and committed a trio of turnovers, allowing the Coyotes to cut the lead to 20-16 at the break.
Hawkins hit a 3-pointer to start the second half to stretch the lead back to seven before San Bernardino strung together a 12-2 run, capped by Corey Caston’s 3-pointer, that gave the Coyotes a 28-25 lead they would never surrender.
The Wildcats cut it to one on five occasions but could never get over the hump. San Bernardino stretched its edge to seven a number of times, but the Wildcats kept hanging around.
Then, Josh Jackson’s offensive rebound and put-back cut the lead to 56-51 with 3:58 left and a pair of Hawkins free throws made it a three-point game a minute later. After an Alexander hoop, Hawkins made two more free throws to make it 58-55 with 2:26 to play. Nate Roth answered this time for the Coyotes, and after Hawkins missed two free throws, Alexander made two to stretch the lead back to seven with 51 seconds to play. Jay Flores twice scored on drives in the final minute, trimming the lead back to five each time, but Roth made two free throws and Aaron Hill made two to keep the Wildcats at bay.
The Wildcats were only 10-of-18 from the charity stripe and missed five in the final 7:29.
Chico State wraps up the regular season on the road at Cal State Monterey Bay Thursday and San Francisco State Friday. Both games are scheduled to tip at 7:30 PM. The big story in those games aside from playoff seeding will be Hawkins’ chase to reach the 1,000-point plateau. He’s now only 15 points short of becoming the 11th Chico State player in history to do so. If he does, he’ll be just the third player in Chico State history with career totals eclipsing 1,000 points and 500 rebounds.
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