The Chico State men’s basketball team couldn’t hit the broad side of two barns built side by side in the second half of its maddening 49-46 loss to visiting Cal State Dominguez Hills Friday night at Acker Gym. The Wildcats shot 3-of-29 after intermission as the suddenly torrid Toros knocked down 15-of-25 second-half shots to rally from 19 points down for their fourth straight victory in Chico.
In building a 32-15 halftime lead, the Wildcats (11-4 overall and 5-4 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association) played perhaps their most complete half of basketball of the year. That advantage, which was as large as 19 late in the first half, disappeared though, along with Chico State’s hopes of winning its eighth straight at home to start the season.
Jay Flores hit a jumper with 11:17 remaining and a 3-pointer just over a minute later. And Jordan Semple sank a jumper in the lane with 1:21 left, giving the Wildcats a 46-45 lead less than a minute after the Toros took their first lead of the game, 45-44, on a long Robert Willhite jumper.
But those were the Wildcats’ only baskets of the second half.
Only by hitting 7-of-8 free throws did they manage to score 14 in the stanza, the third lowest output in a half in Chico State history and lowest since Dominguez Hills held the Wildcats to 13 points in the second half of a 66-56 home loss on Feb. 2, 2007.
Willhite answered Semple’s bucket with a turnaround jumper in the lane to put Cal State Dominguez Hills back out front with a minute remaining. Damario Sims tried twice to put Chico State back ahead with 3-point shots, but neither fell home. Then Wayne Andrews broke free for a dunk on a long inbounds pass with 13 seconds left, extending the Toros edge to 49-46. Sean Park’s 3-point attempt with six seconds left was the Wildcats’ 26th miss of the half and their 16th in their final 17 shots.
Cal State Dominguez Hills, winners of eight of nine and 12 of its last 14 against the Wildcats, improved to 7-4 overall and 6-3 in the CCAA. The Toros were led by Andrews’ 14 points and got 12 from Cornell Jenkins off the bench. Willhite finished with eight points, six rebounds and four assists.
But the Toros started very slowly, shooting 6-of-26 in the first half as the Wildcats blocked eight shots and bothered many more with their defensive length. Meanwhile, the Wildcats got 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting from their bench and six points from Flores on a pair of 3-pointers.
Flores led the Wildcats with 11 points, while Semple supplied nine points, nine rebounds, a block and a steal in 28 minutes off the bench. Jason Conrad accounted for a career-high four of the Wildcats’ season-high nine blocked shots.
Chico State wraps up a five-game homestand Saturday night at 7:30 against Cal State L.A., which beat Cal State Stanislaus 73-65 Friday night to improve to 10-3 overall and 6-3 in the CCAA.
The Golden Eagles entered the weekend with the nation’s second stingiest defense, having allowed opponents to score just 54.1 points per game. Needless to say, they won’t make it easy for the Wildcats to snap out of their funk.
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