LA JOLLA, Calif. – It was a cringe-fest for 35 minutes. It was all smiles for the final five. The Chico State men’s basketball team trailed by 10 points with eight minutes to play and by seven with five left, but finished the game on a 31-14 run to beat UC San Diego 71-64 Friday night at RIMAC Arena in La Jolla. With the win and Cal State East Bay’s loss, the Wildcats clinched a spot in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Championship Tournament for the third straight season and matched the program’s highest win total since Head Coach Greg Clink’s final season as a player – 1993.
Sean Park and Jay Flores kept the Wildcats afloat. Amir Carraway gave them hope. Jordan Semple and Sam Hicks supplied a life preserver. And then Damario Sims awoke from a 35-minute slumber to save the day and keep the Wildcats in first place.
Sims scored all nine of his points during a three-and-a-half minute span on a three-point play and two 3-pointers. Before Sims (the team’s leading scorer) grabbed an offensive rebound and put it home en route to a three-point play, they had trailed by seven. When he knocked down his second long crunch-time 3-pointer with 1:19 to play they had a three-point lead that they did not relinquish.
“He takes those 3s from 22 feet and I cringe sometimes,” said Wildcats Head Coach Greg Clink. “But then I’m cheering as loud as anyone in the place when they go in. He’s just fearless.”
That Sims was 0-for-4 with four turnovers in the first 35 minutes of the game made the cringing especially understandable. But, as he’s done many times before, Sims went from no-show to hero in an instant.
He was one of many heroes Friday night.
• Flores finished with 15 points, nine assists, five steals and just one turnover. He also assisted on both of Sims’ 3s and made two deal-sealing free throws with 20 seconds left.
• Park poured in a team-high 17 points and the 65-percent free throw shooter made two clutch free throws with 38 seconds left that stretched the Wildcats’ lead to three. He and Flores were the only Wildcats that played consistently well throughout the game.
• Carraway collected 11 of his 13 points in the final 7:56, beginning with his 3-pointer that breathed life into a team that was nearly left for dead following a 7-0 UC San Diego that pushed the Tritons’ lead to 50-40. Sixteen seconds after the deficit ballooned back to nine, Carraway knocked down another 3 to keep the Wildcats within striking distance. He completed the comeback with a game tying 3-pointer at the 4:21 mark.
• Semple scored seven of his 10 points in the last 6:53 during which he also snagged two steals and assisted on Carraway’s game-tying trey.
• Hicks, who hadn’t played in the Wildcats last three games and hadn’t made a basket since Dec. 19, scored six points in a row for the Wildcats to slow the surging Tritons who had put together a 15-4 run and were threatening to run away and hide.
• Josh Jackson also got in on the late-game action, grabbing two steals in the final 4:30 – one that led to Carraway’s game-tying 3 and another the resulted in a Semple jumper with 2:56 to play.
It would be appropriate to say the Wildcats stole this one to get back into a four-way tie for first place atop the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA). Chico State (18-5 overall and 12-5 in the CCAA) forced the upstart Tritons (9-13, 5-12) into eight turnovers over their final 17 possessions spanning 7:07.
“You can chalk it up to the steals we got,” said Clink. “We turned it up defensively and that was the key.”
As it has been all season.
Meanwhile, the Wildcats made 7-of-9 shots down the stretch on the other end of the court.
“What is that, 18 wins now? This might be the sweetest of them all,” said Clink. “The gut-tough competitive character of this team was on full display. It’s just as an exciting thing to be a part of.”
The ride continues Saturday night when the Wildcats face fellow first-place holders Cal State San Bernardino. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30. The game will be broadcast on AM 1290 KPAY and available streaming online at www.chicowildcats.com via the Wildcat Webcast link.
GAME NOTES – Two other teams have won 18 games since 1993: The 2002-03 and 2004-05 teams…The Wildcats have won seven in a row against UC San Diego including three straight at RIMAC Arena…The Tritons were on the precipice of knocking a team out of first place for the third straight game. They did it to Cal State L.A. on Feb. 3 and Cal State Dominguez Hills on Feb. 4…This is the eighth time in Clink’s tenure and second time this season the Wildcats have overcome a second a second-half deficit of 10 points or greater…Of his 56 career wins, 28 have come after the Wildcats trailed in the second half…This marks the second time since 1945 the Wildcats have won 18 of their first 23 games…The Wildcats improved to 14-0 when knocking down at least 30 percent of their 3-pointers and 11-0 when shooting better than 45 percent from the field (they shot 44 percent from 3-point range and 46 percent from the field Friday)…Park has scored in double figures and shot at least 50 percent in each of the Wildcats’ last four games…The Wildcats are now 18-1 this season when scoring 60 points or more.
BOX SCORE
