REDDING – The Chico State men's basketball team's fourth straight wire-to-wire win was unlike the three that came before it. Monday night at Simpson, the Wildcats started a bit slowly before obliterating the Red Hawks over the final 21 minutes on the way to a 95–51 victory.
 
The Wildcats, ranked No. 19 in the nation, led their neighbors to the north by only nine as they neared halftime. But a 7–0 run to end the first half portended what the second half had in store. The Wildcats scored the first seven points of the second half and outscored the Red Hawks 46-18 after the break for their fifth straight victory.
 
In beating Stanislaus State, Academy of Art, and Northwest Nazarene University in succession over a five-day span, the Wildcats built respective leads of 33–11, 33–13, and 22–6.
 
Not Monday. The Wildcats started slowly and led just 18–17 seven-and-a-half minutes in. A 12-0 run later gave them some cushion, and then they scored seven straight to end the first half, capped by Ambrosini's buzzer-beating 3-pointer, to go up 49–33.
 
Another Ambrosini triple finished a 7–0 run coming out of the half that increased Chico State's lead to 57–33.
 
As the Wildcats clamped down defensively, their lead continued to grow, eclipsing 30 with just over nine minutes left, and eventually 40.
 
Isaiah Ellis scored a season-high 21 points for the Wildcats, who had five players reach double-figures and all 10 on their roster register in the scoring column. Nate Ambrosini matched his career high with 14 points for the second straight game and also logged a career-high four steals. Justin Briggs scored 12 points and pulled down a team-high eight rebounds. Marvin Timothy had 11 points. And Joseph Lynch, who attended high school in Redding, had a memorable homecoming with career highs of 10 points, five assists, three rebounds, and two steals.
 
Second-leading scorer Corey Silverstrom sat out the game for precautionary reasons.
 
The Wildcats forced Simpson into 27 turnovers. Robert Duncan grabbed a career-high five steals. The senior guard also dished out a pair of assists, and in doing so, became the 13^th Wildcat to record 200 career assists.
 
Chico State's five-man bench of Lynch, Briggs, Michael Bethea, Jr., Jesse Holmes, and Keith Datu, combined to outscore Simpson's reserves 31-2.
 
Chico State will now focus its attention on its conference opener at UC San Diego Thursday. The Wildcats face Cal State San Marcos Saturday before returning home to take on rival Humboldt State on Dec. 9.

 
Chico State beat UC San Diego twice in conference play last season and eventually won their second straight CCAA title and third in five years by a game over the Tritons. However, UC San Diego exacted some revenge, beating the Wildcats in the opening round of the NCAA Championship Tournament.
 
Chico State has won 11 of the past 15 meetings between the teams and leads the all-time series 19-13.
 
The Wildcats also swept the season series against Cal State San Marcos last season, winning the first game 83-82 on Jalen McFerren's miracle buzzer-beater from half court. They beat the Cougars in San Marcos 83-73 later in the season.
 
But before heading south to open conference play, the Wildcats have a date with their Northern California neighbor, Simpson. The Redhawks have had a rough to start to their season, dropping 10 of their first 11, while allowing opponents an average of 86.5 points per game.  
 
The Wildcats, who rank fourth in Division II in scoring defense at 57.7 points per game, have won all five of the previous meetings between the teams.
 
The Wildcats also rank 10^th in rebound martin (+10.1) and 31^st in total blocks with 26.
 
Links to live stats and pay-per-view streaming video are also available in the calendar section and men's basketball schedule page at www.chicowildcats.com.
 
The games at UC San Diego and Cal State San Marcos will be broadcast locally on AM-1290 KPAY. Links to the online audio stream, live stats, and streaming video (the UC San Diego feed is pay-per-view) are on our homepage and on the men's basketball schedule page.