For 15 straight nights the Chico State men's basketball team had gone to bed in a tie for first place in the California Collegiate Athletic Association. Tonight they are alone on top.
 
Robert Duncan scored 19 points and the Wildcats' suffocating defense pushed Cal Poly Pomona into 17 turnovers, leading to 21 Chico State points, in a 60-52 victory over conference co-leader Cal Poly Pomona Saturday at Acker Gym.
 
The Wildcats won their ninth straight – matching the longest winning streak in the Greg Clink era – improving to 16-5 overall and 13-3 in the CCAA.
 
Chico State took control of the game with a 12-2 run in the latter stages of the first half and led the rest of the way.
 

With 10 seconds remaining the officials stopped the clock because of moisture on the floor. Duncan did it all Saturday, chipping in four assists, three rebounds and two steals. He even grabbed the floor broom to wipe up the wet spot. Unwittingly, he also illustrated the significance of the win. It signaled not only a huge weekend sweep for the Wildcats, which began with Friday night's win against UC San Diego, but also the team's first regular-season sweep of the Broncos since 2003.
 
Cal Poly Pomona, picked by the conference's coaches to win the CCAA title for the fourth time in seven seasons, did not go quietly into the cool Northern California night. The Broncos opened the second stanza with an 8-2 run that cut the lead to three. But Duncan drove to the free throw line and fired a pass to Jordan Semple for a bucket and some breathing room. That was the start of an 8-0 run, continued by a Duncan free throw, steal and jumper, and capped by Drew Kitchens' 3-pointer (assisted by Duncan) that pushed the lead to 38-27.
 
The lead was six or more from that point on.
 
Semple finished with eight points, 10 rebounds and three assists. Kitchens contributed 10 points.
 
The Wildcats bench came up big as well, outscoring the Broncos' reserves 16-11. Chris Magalotti was a main cog in the early 12-2 run, throwing down a monster dunk, and on the next possession, grabbing an offensive rebound and finding Mike Rosaroso for a 3-pointer. Backup point guard Jalen McFerren had two points, three boards, an assist and a steal in 17 mistake-free minutes. Tyler Harris hit a big 3-pointer with 14 minutes left to stretch the lead to 12. Jordan Barton played big-time defense on the block. And Isaiah Ellis had six points, three rebounds, a block and a steal.
 
If the Wildcats plan to keep their grip on sole possession of first place they'll have to do something next weekend that no team has done this season – win at least once on the road trip through Cal State San Bernardino and Humboldt State. The first six teams that have made that trip this season returned home winless.
 
Chico State faces Cal State San Bernardino Thursday and Humboldt State Saturday. Both games are scheduled to tip at 7:30 p.m.
 
GAME NOTES – This marks the first time the Wildcat have won 13 conference games in their first 16 since Gene Maxey's 1950 Wildcats began Far Western Conference play 14-2…The Wildcats are four shy of the program record for consecutive wins (13). That streak spanned from the end of the 1931-32 season to the beginning of the 1932-33 campaign…The longest conference winning streak in the history of the program is 11, set in 1953-54 and matched in 2013-14…The Wildcats are three wins shy of the school record for conference wins in a season (16) set in 2011-12 and matched in 2013-14…This marks the ninth start of 16-5 or better in the history of the program and third in the last five years…The Wildcats are 8-1 away from Acker Gym this season and 18-3 away from home dating back to last January…This was the seventh time in the last eight games and 11^th time this season the Wildcats have held an opponent to fewer than 60 points. They've won all 11 of those games…Semple's first bucket of the night, the layup that helped spark the second-half run, moved him past long time teammate Damario Sims into eighth on the program's career scoring list. With 1,198 career points, he now trails another long time teammate, Sean Park, by 29.