It looked like another nail biter in the making. Instead, the Chico State men's basketball team hammered host Cal State Monterey Bay, outscoring the Otters 39-20 over the final 17 minutes, to collect a 78-56 win at the Kelp Bed Saturday night.
 
Jordan Semple scored 16 points to go along with 10 rebounds, four assists, two blocked shots and a steal to lead the Wildcats to their fifth consecutive win and eighth win away from home in nine tries.
 

The Wildcats improved to 12-5 overall and remain tied atop the California Collegiate Athletic Association standings at 9-3 on the strength of another stellar defensive effort.
 
Chico State held CCAA leading scorer Evan Zeller to seven points on 1-of-7 shooting and forced him into five turnovers. In fact, all three Otters who entered the night averaging double-figures in scoring were kept in check. Alex Fertig scored seven points and had two turnovers and Greg Anderson was held to four points on 2-of-6 shooting as the Otters fell to 9-9 overall and 5-7 in the CCAA.
 
Drew Kitchens came off the bench to score 14 points for the Wildcats, knocking down 4-of-6 threes. Tanner Giddings scored 12 points, Mike Rosaroso 11, and Robert Duncan 10.
 
Rosaroso was right in the middle of the decisive run, threading three threes on the way to a team-high 11 second-half points.
 
Chico State held a tenuous 39-36 edge early in the second stanza before a 12-0 run put the 'Cats in control.
 
A Giddings bucket, Jordan Barton steal and Rosaroso three sparked things. Kitchens sank consecutive triples to make it a 51-36 game.
 
The Wildcats were 5-of-9 in the second half and 9-of-18 in the game from beyond the arc.
 

Cal State Monterey Bay threatened to trim the lead to single-digits for a couple of minutes before Rosaroso scored on a drive and then railed another three to push the lead back to 18, effectively putting the game away.
 
The Wildcats are now in a three-way tie for first with Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State Stanislaus with 10 conference games to play. UC San Diego fell out of the logjam with a loss to the Humboldt State Lumberjacks Saturday.
 
Chico State returns home to play four straight beginning Friday night against Cal State L.A. at 7:30.