LOS ANGELES—The Chico State men's basketball team knows it is going to take a bit of magic to reach the postseason, but the Wildcats were prepared to shoot their shot with four regular-season games to go.
 
The problem Thursday, in a 69-57 loss at Cal State LA, was that they did not give themselves enough chances to do so. Chico State committed 25 turnovers, the team's most since Jan. 25, 2008.
 
That allowed Cal State LA, which outscored the Wildcats 26-6 in points off turnovers, to take 20 more shots. So, despite the fact that Chico State shot a touch better (46.2 percent) than Cal State LA (45.8), the Wildcats played from behind for most of the night.
 
Chico State slipped to 9-11 overall and 8-11 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA). The Wildcats are now two games behind Humboldt State for eighth place in the conference standings and the CCAA's final CCAA Tournament berth, with three to go.
 
Cal State LA, which swept the season series against Chico State for the first times since 2010–11, improved to 15-11 overall and 11-9 in the CCAA.
 
Kevin Warren kept the Wildcats close with a game-high 17 points, matching his season high, while Malik Duffy registered his third double-double of the campaign with 11 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
 
Chico State fell behind 14-7 early, but a 9-0 run via 3-pointers from Isaiah Brooks, Warren, and Duffy gave the Wildcats their biggest lead of the night at 31-27 with 1:54 to go in the first half.
 
Cal State LA scored the final five points before the break to re-take the lead, however, and kept rolling out of it, outscoring the Wildcats 13-4 over the first six-plus minutes of the second half.
 
Brooks' three-point play briefly stemmed the tide, but the Golden Eagles responded with a 3-pointer and dunk. It all added up to a 25-7 run spanning nearly 11 minutes of action and proved to be too much for Chico State to recover from. They got as close as eight on a handful of occasions, but could never cut further into the lead.
 
The Wildcats are back in action Saturday night at 7:30 on the road at Cal State Dominguez Hills. Mike Baca will be courtside to provide the play-by-play, broadcast locally on Newstalk 1290-AM and 102.9 FM KPAY, and simulcast on the Internet via the Wildcat Athletics website. Live Stats and live streaming video will also be available online.