Sometimes you can’t hit the broad side of a barn. Sometimes you can throw an egg back under the chicken from the back door. Saturday, the Chico State men’s basketball team was throwin’ eggs.
One night after making just one shot in the final 10 minutes to lose a big lead and game against Cal State Dominguez Hills, the Wildcats missed just one shot over the final 10 minutes to rally from 12 points down and beat Cal State L.A. 69-66 Saturday night in Acker Gym.
After seeing Cal State L.A. stretch its lead to 12 – its largest of the night – on a Chris Robinson 3-pointer with 10:15 to play, the Wildcats made five straight shots (including two Jason Conrad three-point plays) to cut the lead to 59-57 with 3:18 remaining. They then knocked down three of the next
four.
Robinson and Damario Sims traded threes over the next minute and then Sims answered a Quinton Watkins jumper with another 3-pointer to make it a one-point game with 1:26 left. Amir Carraway grabbed a steal to help set up Jordan Semple for a jumper in the lane that gave the Wildcats their first lead of the game, 65-64, with 43 seconds remaining.
It was a lead they would not relinquish. After Leland Jones missed a pair of free throws with 20 seconds left, Flores flushed four straight free throws, and the Wildcats held on for the win – the 50th in Clink’s career.
Chico State and Cal State L.A., both now 6-4 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) finished the night in a four-way tie for third place in the conference standings, joining Cal State Dominguez Hills and Humboldt State. Those four teams trail second-place Cal Poly Pomona by one-half game and conference leader Cal State San Bernardino by two games.
Flores, who became just the fourth Wildcat to amass 300 career assists late in the first half, finished with 18 points and four assists. Sims bounced back from a horrible Friday the 13th in which he shot 2-of-15 to sink 6-of-9 shots on the way to 15 points Saturday (including 10 in the second half). Conrad contributed a career-high 12 points, Carraway seven, and Semple snagged a game-high seven rebounds to go with five points and two blocked shots as the Wildcats improved to 12-4 overall and 8-1 at home.
Robinson (not to be confused with the lead singer of the Black Crowes, though he might be signing the blues tonight) was a revelation, hitting 10-of-15 shots including 4-of-5 from 3-point range, on the way to a game-high 25 points.
But when the rooster crows at the break of dawn (Any Black Crowes fans out there?), he’ll be wishing he made one more shot.
With the conclusion of its five-game homestand, Chico State will head back out on the road to face Cal State East Bay and Cal State Monterey Bay next Friday and Saturday. The Wildcats will then play six of their last 10 games at home, beginning Jan. 27 against rival Sonoma State.
GAME NOTES – The 69 points are the most Cal State L.A. has allowed all season. The Golden Eagles entered the weekend ranked No. 1 in the CCAA and No. 2 in the nation in scoring defense (54.3 ppg)…The Wildcats are now 8-0 in games in which they shoot 45 percent or better…Semple has come off the bench to lead the Wildcats in rebounding three games in a row…The Wildcats have now held every team on their schedule below their season average in scoring in regulation (Cal State Stanislaus scored 79 in overtime, but only 67 in regulation)…Conrad’s career-high 12 points came a night after he compiled a career-high four blocked shots…The Wildcats have come from behind in the second half in 26 of Clink’s 50 career wins…This is the seventh such deficit of 10 points or larger… Their largest made up deficit this season had been five.
BOX SCORE
