Box Score Two buzzer beaters that weren’t, a memory two minutes long, and a heart two feet wide invoked an ending too legit to forget for the Chico State men’s basketball team in a 64-61 win against UC San Diego Saturday night.
Damario Sims – the huge-hearted soul of the Wildcats – sank a last-second tie-breaking 3-pointer, and as the lamp above the hoop lit, sent the crowd and his teammates into a tizzy. But the officials convened and deemed that 0.3 seconds should be put back on the clock.
When the dust settled, UC San Diego inbounded the ball to James McCann, who heaved a three-quarters court shot that shocked one thousand-plus by sailing through the net. One official raised his hands to signal a make, and Tritons coach Chris Carlson, already prepared to shake the hand of Wildcats head man Greg Clink, had to hustle back to prepare for overtime.
But the officials convened at center court once again, and following 30 seconds of deliberation, delivered the bad news to Carlson: the basket would not count after all.
This time it was the Tritons in a tizzy.
But according to rule 5.1.9 of the NCAA Basketball Rules, the officials were correct: “In any period, when the game clock displays 10ths of a second and play is to be resumed by a throw-in or a free throw when 3/10 (.3) of a second or less remains on the game clock, a player may not gain possession of the ball and try for a field goal. Such a player can only score a field goal by means of a tap of the pass or of a missed free throw.”
The clutch shot by Sims and the somewhat surprising decision by Jordan Semple to kick a pass out to Sims were somewhat forgotten in that frenetic final three-10ths of a second. Perhaps he’d already forgotten Sims’ last two 3-point attempts that had missed the rim completely in each of his last two 3-point attempts.
“I actually didn’t think about that until I passed it,” said Semple. “Then I actually did a tiny bit. But I’ve always had faith in Mems. If you’re going to live and die by the 3, I like our chances with the ball in his hands.”
Ironically, the thought that was running through Semple’s mind as the clock ticked down was to make sure the Wildcats got the last shot.
“I just wanted to make sure they didn’t have time for a rebuttal,” said Semple.
Things didn’t work out quite that way. But if he would have attacked the paint before running into a triple-team one-tenth of a second earlier, things could have been much worse.
“These are games that, as a losing coach, you don’t sleep tonight,” Clink told Travis Souders of the Chico Enterprise-Record following the game. “You toss and turn. You think about what if you’d done this, that. But I will sleep like a baby.”
He’ll also sleep riding a seven-game home winning streak that has his team one game out of third place in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) standings with four regular-season games to go. The top four teams in the final standings earn the right to host a first-round CCAA Championship Tournament game.
CURRENT CCAA STANDINGS
The Wildcats, 13-9 overall and 10-8 in the CCAA, will likely need to stretch that home win streak to nine in order to get a shot at a 10th in the postseason. They host the team they’re tied with for fourth– Cal State Dominguez Hills – Friday night, and then third-place Cal State L.A. next Saturday. They wrap up the regular season on the road at Cal State East Bay and Cal State Monterey Bay – the teams tied for last place in the CCAA – Feb. 28 and March 1, respectively.
The Wildcats would clinch their fourth straight postseason berth with two more wins.
Sims actually sunk three of his first four 3s before missing three straight prior to the game winner and finished 4-of-8 on the way to a team-high 14 points. He also dished out four assists. Semple, Sean Park and Rashad Parker scored 10 points apiece. Reserve Mike Rosaroso recorded the best shooting night of his young career, railing 3-of-4 three-pointers, and matched his career high with nine points. He also ran the offense for 18 minutes without committing a turnover.
The Wildcats held McCann and Tyler McGrath, who combined to torch the Wildcats for 45 points in the Tritons’ win over Chico State in La Jolla earlier this season, to a combined 28 on 9-of-24 shooting. Drew Dyer did the biggest damage, finishing with game highs of 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Tritons, who fell to 9-12 overall and 8-10 in the CCAA.
Semple scored eight points and accounted for three of the Wildcats’ six first-half blocked shots that helped them take a 29-25 lead into intermission.
Sims hit a pair of 3s in the Wildcats’ opening second-half salvo as they built their lead to 38-29. But UC San Diego answered with a 13-4 run keyed by a Dyer 3 and McGrath’s eight quick points to tie the game at 42-all.
Park’s 3-pointer slowed the Tritons’ charge, but only momentarily. They scored six straight points to take a three-point lead with 6:44 remaining.
The lead was still three following a pair of McCann free throws with 3:33 remaining, but Amir Carraway – held scoreless for the first time since his freshman season – followed with his biggest contribution of the night. Double-teamed on the low block, Carraway fired a cross-court pass to Parker, who let go of a 3-ball and was fouled as it sailed through the hoop. He hit the free throw to complete the four-point play and the Wildcats would not trail again.
After a Justin Brue free throw tied the game, Sean Park answered with his own to give the Wildcats a 59-58 edge with 1:06 to play. He missed the second, but Jordan Barton snatched the rebound and the Wildcats milked another 24 seconds of the clock before Park was fouled again.
He made both free throws to stretch the lead to 3, but in one of the Wildcats’ rare defensive lapses on the night, McCann was left alone to bury a long game-tying 3-pointer with 26 seconds, setting the stage for the final memorable moments.
