Robert Duncan had the hot hand and Drew Kitchens put in the hard work as the Chico State men's basketball team outscored visiting Cal State Dominguez Hills 15-6 down the stretch to secure its seventh straight win, 67-57, Saturday night at Acker Gym.
 
The Wildcats improved to 14-5 overall and 11-3 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association. And thanks to Cal State Stanislaus' loss to Cal State L.A. Saturday, now share what was a four-team tie for the conference lead heading into last Saturday's games, with only Cal Poly Pomona with eight games to play.
 

Duncan scored a career-high 23 points – most by a Wildcat this season – on just 11 shots. The sophomore attacked the rim with abandon, scoring on an array of acrobatic layups. He was 8-for-11 from the field, 1-of-2 from beyond the arc, and 6-of-7 from the free throw line.
 
Kitchens hit three first-half 3s on the way to 13 points. But it was his two-minute stretch late in the game that made it one of his career-best nights.
 
First he drew a rebounding foul and went to the line and knocked down a pair of free throws to break a 52-52 tie at the 5:48 mark. Then, with 5:09 to play, he attacked the paint, drew the defense, and delivered a bullet pass to Jordan Barton for a two-handed jam as the Wildcats re-took the lead, this time for good.
 
On the Toros' next possession, Kitchens made the play of the night.
 
He dove on a loose ball between two Toros, and from his derriere, delivered a pass over a defender to a sprinting Duncan, who took three dribbles before rising up for a one-handed rip and a 58-54 lead with 4:36 to play.
 
Cal State Dominguez Hills, just 5-15 overall and 1-13 in the CCAA but playing much better of late (The Toros won at Sonoma State a week prior and lost a nail biter Friday night at first-place Cal State Stanislaus.) did not go down easily.
 
The Toros drew back to within two on Darnell Martin's layup in the lane.
 
But Kitchens, who had scored from 3 and from the free throw line, threw the sink at them with a spinning flip shot off the glass and in, making it a four-point game with 3:58 remaining.
 

Martin's basket would be the Toros' last, and they never got closer.
 
Jordan Semple sank a jumper in the lane to stretch the lead to six, Mike Rosaroso was 3-of-4 from the line in the final minute, and Duncan delivered the exclamation mark, taking a long outlet pass from Barton and streaking by a defender for a layup and 10-point lead.
 
Barton contributed 25 big minutes off the bench, finishing with 12 points and five rebounds. Rosaroso added with 10 points, three assists and three steals.
 
The Wildcats improved to 10-0 this season and 60-4 in Head Coach Greg Clink's six-plus seasons at the helm when holding the opposition to fewer than 60 points.
 
They've done so in six straight games and hope to keep that streak alive next weekend when two teams battling the 'Cats in a tight race for the conference crown visit town: UC San Diego, tied for second place a game behind Chico State, visits Friday night; Cal Poly Pomona, tied with the Wildcats for the conference lead, comes to town Saturday.
 
Both games are scheduled to tip at 7:30 p.m.