SAN RAFAEL—For a man as passionate about teaching the game of basketball as Chico State Head Coach Greg Clink, it must have felt like the rewards that come with a win would never come. He was the Wildcats brand new head coach in his first season with the team and they opened the season with four losses in a row (as well as a pair of exhibition defeats). It is hard to imagine now that defense has become the program's calling card, but the Wildcats allowed 80-plus points in three of those losses.
 
It began with a slow drip—Clink's first NCAA win came on November 28, 2008—but the wins and that vaunted defense eventually came, ultimately cascading into the longest run of success in the program's history.
 
With a 74-61 win at Dominican University of California at the Conlan Center in San Rafael Wednesday, Clink became the fastest coach in Chico State men's basketball history to reach 200 wins. It marked his 306^th game at the helm.
 
The Wildcats, now 3-3, held Dominican well below its season scoring average (69.5) to earn their first road victory of the season in what is likely to be their only regular-season, non-conference game.
 
Kevin Warren scored a season-high 17 points to pace the offense. The sophomore sank 7-of-13 shots, including 3-of-6 from beyond the arc. He also pulled down five rebounds.

 
Isaiah Brooks scored a career-high 14 points and matched his career bests in rebounds (3), assists (3), and steals (2). Over his last four games the sophomore point guard has not committed a turnover while dishing out 10 assists.
 
Another sophomore, Malik Duffy, matched his career best with 13 points. Justin Briggs scored eight points and pulled down a team-high nine rebounds, while fellow center Marvin Timothy chipped in six points and seven rebounds in 15 minutes.
 
But as has almost always been the case for Clink's Wildcats, defense carried the day.
 
Chico State's opponents have scored fewer than 70 points 218 times in the 306 games Clink has coached the 'Cats. They've won 161 of them. Since the start of the 2011-12 campaign, Clink's fourth, the Wildcats have held opponents to fewer than 70 points 165 times in 223 games. They are 128-37 when doing so.
 
Trailing 35-33 early in the second half, the Wildcats' defense went to work once again, allowing just two field goals over the next 7:56 while building a 10-point lead.
 
Warren kick-started the 17-5 push with a layup and 3-pointer and Brooks fueled the run with a steal and bucket in transition and a triple.
 
Calvin Geraci's 3-pointer pushed the lead back to 10 with 9:51 remaining. Duffy and Brooks scored back-to-back buckets to make it a 10-point game with 6:51 to play. Duffy's 3-pointer with 4:24 left stretched the lead to 13, and Briggs' put-back slam made it 69-54 with 2:57 to go.
 
Brooks sealed the win by making five of six free throws inside the final minute.
 
Chico State has now won four straight against the Penguins and 13 of 14 overall. They are 4-0 against the Penguins in San Rafael.
 
The Wildcats will return from the NCAA's mandated break for three road games in Southern California in the span of eight days. They'll be at Cal Poly Pomona Dec. 29, at Cal State San Bernardino Jan. 3, and at Cal State San Marcos Jan. 5. Nine of their final 14 regular-season home games will be home in Acker Gym, where they've played only twice this season.
 
That stretch starts on Jan. 10 against Cal State Dominguez Hills.