PHOENIX, Ariz. – The exhibition season is for learning, and the Chico State men's basketball team learned a valuable lesson Friday–never look past an opponent.
The good news for the Wildcats is that they also got the win, holding of Arizona Christian 75-72 at Fultz Memorial Gymnasium despite a sluggish start and severe foul trouble.
Marvin Timothy hit 9-of-12 free throws, including
a number of big ones down the stretch.
One can hardly blame the Wildcats for their slow start. Not with a Pac-12 Network-televised showdown with the University of Arizona looming Sunday at 3 p.m.. They were also coming off a 108-51 victory over Future College in Wednesday night's exhibition opener.
BOX SCORE
Chico State trailed 5-0 early and 27-22 with just over five minutes left in the first half before closing the half with 16-3 run to take the lead into the locker room.
Jalen McFerren and Robert Duncan combined for 11 quick points to start the push before Michael Bethea, Jr. hit a two and Nate Ambrosini buried a three to close out the half.
The Wildcats would not trail again, but could never quite shake the Firestorm.
Neither team could shake the whistle either. All four of Chico State's big men–starters Isaiah Ellis and Marvin Timothy and reserves Justin Briggs and Keith Datu–had four fouls with eight minutes still to play. Ellis and Timothy eventually fouled out.
There were 62 fouls called between the two teams (34 on Chico State), which turned the game into a series of fits and starts. But the Wildcats took advantage from the charity stripe hitting 23-of-31 compared to Arizona Christian's 23-of-37.
Duncan paced five Wildcats in double-figures with 17 points. McFerren and Corey Silverstrom scored 12 points apiece. Marvin Timothy and Nate Ambrosini accounted for 11 apiece.
The Wildcats outrebounded Arizona Christian, which has four consecutive 20-win seasons and four straight trips to the second round of the NAIA National Tournament under its belt, 36-31. Justin Briggs, Duncan and Silverstrom secured five apiece to lead the way.
Silverstrom also accounted for perhaps the biggest bucket of the night, a floater in the lane with 1:11 remaining that stretched Chico State's lead to 72-69.
Arizona Christian, now 1-1 in exhibition play, got a tying 3-pointer on its next possession before McFerren made a free throw and Silverstrom sank two more to close out the game.
Chico State took its biggest lead of the game, 40-30, on Silverstrom's bucket on the first possession of the half. But Arizona Christian came back to tie the game with a 14-4 run.
The Wildcats' lead was never more than seven after that.
Chico State will now set its sites fully on Arizona, which beat the Wildcats 90-54 in Tucson last season. However, Chico State gave Arizona all it could handle for the first three-quarters of the game. The Wildcats trailed 45-37 with 14-plus minutes to play before an 11-0 run started a strong finish for the Division-I Wildcats.
Both enter the season ranked No. 11 in the nation according to their respective preseason coaches' polls.
