Box Score Possession was nine-tenths of the lesson for the Chico State men’s basketball team Friday night. The Wildcats got a career high 24 points in 23 brilliant minutes from James Staniland, but 14th-ranked Cal Poly Pomona converted turnovers and second-chance points to into a come-from-behind 67-64 win in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) opener for both teams in Acker Gym.
Staniland’s sixth three in seven attempts staked Chico State to a five-point lead with 3:39 to play. The Wildcats were a few stops from taking a big step toward defending their CCAA title by beating the team picked to finish just behind them in the preseason coaches’ poll.
But a stop is just a restart if you don’t grab the rebound.
Chico State surrendered three offensive rebounds and turned the ball over three times in the final 3:06 as the Broncos finished with an 8-0 flurry, improving to 5-0 on the season.
Staniland was spectacular, rising from the bench to bury 9-of-11 shots, including 6-of-7 threes. He had 16 points at the half, just one off his career high.
Then he scored the Wildcats’ final eight points and assisted on Amir Carraway’s consecutive 3-pointers than came before that.
Carraway was the only other Wildcat in double-figures with 11 points. Jordan Semple filled the stat sheet with seven points, five rebounds, four assists, two steals and a blocked shot
Chico State (2-2) also enjoyed nice bench production from Rashad Parker and Drew Kitchens, who combined for eight assists.
Preseason All-American Mitchel Anderson paced Pomona with 18 points, Shannon Sharpe scored 15, and Mohamed Fall 11.
When the defense collapsed around Kitchen, he kicked a pass out to Staniland for a corner 3-pointer that sent the crowd of 1,202 into a frenzy and staked Chico State to a 64-59 lead with 3:39 to play.
The Wildcats then forced two misses on the Bronco’s next possession, but Fall grabbed two offensive rebounds, finally scoring on their third try, to cut the lead to three.
Fall then grabbed another board following a Chico State miss and Shannon Sharpe sank his only 3-point try of the night to knot the game at 64-apiece.
Two quick turnovers by Damario Sims followed, the second leading to a Mitchel Anderson dunk that gave Cal Poly Pomona the lead for good.
Sims and Rashad Parker missed 3-pointers on the Wildcats’ next possession, and again, they were in serious need of a stop. Instead, the Broncos got a restart when Anderson snagged an offensive rebound in the lane with nine seconds to play.
The Wildcats were forced to foul and Barry Bell made one of two to stretch the lead to three. With fouls to give, the Broncos milked the clock down to 1.6 seconds, and when the inbounds pass from under the hoop slipped out of the hands of Sims, the buzzer sounded.
The Wildcats will now attempt to regroup quickly with long-time rival Humboldt State coming to town Saturday night. The Lumberjacks (4-1, 1-1 CCAA) will be out for revenge after the Wildcats beat them three times in four meetings last season, the last of which came in the opening round of the NCAA Championship Tournament.
Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30.
