SEATTLE—Tantalizingly close to a tremendous two-game season-opening sweep in Seattle, the Chico State men's basketball team instead settled for a split, falling to 8^th-ranked Azusa Pacific 97-91 in overtime Saturday night at the Seattle Pacific Sodexo Classic at Brougham Pavilion.
 
Chico State led the Cougars by as many as 13 points in the second half before being on the wrong side a 28-10 run. The Wildcats rallied back, however, briefly regaining the lead on Malik Duffy's 3-pointer with 1:05 remaining. Duffy nearly won it with a turnaround jumper in the lane at the buzzer, but the shot bounced four times on the rim before rolling off.
 
Despite the loss, Chico State and its fans were heartened by this weekend's results. The Wildcats rolled to a 75-53 win against Seattle Pacific in Friday night's season opener before falling to Street & Smith's Preseason No. 8 Azusa Pacific Saturday. Both Seattle Pacific and Azusa Pacific are picked to finish second in their respective conferences this season, and both opened the campaign ranked among the West Region's top five.
 
Chico State, meanwhile, is coming off a 9-14 campaign but has high hopes for a turnaround season. Following this weekend, that appears to be a real possibility.
 
The Wildcats will play their home opener next Saturday at 7 p.m. against Holy Names University and then begin CCAA play at home against Stanislaus State on November 21.
 
Justin Briggs led Chico State with 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting and also racked up nine rebounds, two blocked shots, and three steals. Duffy delivered 18 points and seven rebounds. Isaiah Brooks chipped in 14 points and five assists. Calvin Geraci and Kevin Warren also scored in double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
 
The Wildcats jumped out to an early lead the ballooned to 12 with a 7-0 run on a Colby Orr 3-pointer, Joshua Hamilton jumper, and Briggs' inside bucket. The advantage hovered between four and 11 points, and they went to the half with a 45-36 lead after Duffy drilled a 3-pointer just before intermission.
 
The lead grew as large as 13 when Geraci capped a 9-1 push with a jumper that made it 58-45 with 14:32 to play.
 
But Azusa Pacific exploded for 20 points over the next five minutes while trimming the lead to three and took advantage of a five-minute Chico State scoring drought to surge ahead 73-68.
 
The Cougars led by five with 2:53 to play before Geraci sank a 3-pointer and Duffy hit another, that one with 1:05 remaining, to give the Wildcats a one-point advantage.
 
Azusa Pacific's Jake Spurgeon answered with a triple of his own 14 seconds later before Brooks knotted the score at 82 with a layup with 32 seconds left.
 
Following Briggs' blocked shot with 31 seconds left in regulation, Duffy grabbed the defensive rebound and nearly won the game with his jumper with one second left at the other end.
 
Chico State never led in overtime, but twice tied the game, the second instance coming on a Brooks layup with 1:36 left. But the Cougars sank two free throws on their next possession, and following a Chico State miss, Brennan Rymer railed a dagger 3-pointer with 43 seconds to play. It was never a one-possession game again after that.