Primarily outplayed from the opening possession against Cal Poly Pomona Saturday night at Acker Gym, it never really appeared that the Chico State men's basketball team had much of a chance. Until the Wildcats suddenly did.
 
A frenetic 14-0 run in 95 seconds drew the Wildcats—who trailed by as much as 20—to within 67-65 with 2:12 to play. And with 30 seconds to go, Chico State had the ball and a chance to tie or take the lead for the first time since midway through the first half.
 
But that possession ended in the team's 18^th turnover, and then Colby Orr's desperation runner from the timeline at the buzzer was wide. Cal Poly Pomona had hung on for a 69-67 win.
 
The visiting Broncos improved to 7-2 overall and 3-1 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association while Chico State slipped to 6-3 overall and 2-2 in the CCAA.
 
Cal Poly Pomona scored on its first three possessions of the game and led 9-1 early, eventually building a 34-22 halftime lead. In that first half, Chico State's starting five struggled immensely, combining for only 11 points, six rebounds, one assists, and six turnovers.
 
That trend continued out of the break and the Broncos quickly built a 16-point lead that grew to 20 with 10 minutes to play.
 
Chico State clawed back to cut that lead in half with a 10-0 run, capped by Kevin Warren's 3-pointer with 7:51 remaining. But the Broncos' William Christmas answered with a triple of his own, and a Justin Young Dunk with 4:10 to play put Cal Poly Pomona ahead 67-51.
 
That was the Broncos' final made field goal of the night.
 
On the other end of the floor, the Wildcats' next five possessions went: Malik Duffy 3-pointer; Calvin Geraci three-point play; Warren 3-pointer; Joshua Hamilton 3-pointer; and Warren layup. Hamilton had two of his career-high five steals and three of his career-high four assists during the dramatic 14-0 run.
 
Christmas converted a pair of free throws with 1:43 remaining to stop the onslaught, but Orr found Justin Briggs for a dunk—Orr's fifth assist of the night—to get the lead back to a bucket.
 
Duffy rebounded a Broncos miss on the other end and the Wildcats called timeout with 20 seconds to play. With eight seconds remaining, Orr dribbled left to the baseline and attempted a pass into the paint, but no one was home and Christmas grabbed the loose ball. He was fouled, but missed the front end of a 1-and-1. Briggs grabbed the rebound and passed to Orr, but he only had time to get off a desperation runner that didn't draw iron.
 
Warren finished with a team-high 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting, including 3-of-3 from beyond the arc. But the rest of the Wildcats combined to miss 12 of 15 from 3-point range.
 
Spencer LaShells finished with a career-high 13 points and six rebounds.
 
The Wildcats are back home Thursday night against Cal State Monterey Bay. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.