POMONA—The Chico State men's basketball team started its most challenging road trip of the regular season with a thud Thursday, falling 73-57 at Cal Poly Pomona. It was the most lopsided loss of the season for the Wildcats, now 17-6 and 12-5 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA). But they have little time to lick their wounds. Instead, they'll attempt to salvage the trip to Southern California Saturday night against 16^th-ranked Cal State San Bernardino at Coussoulis Arena.
 
Cal Poly Pomona, which also beat the Wildcats 69-67 in Chico in their first meeting this season, improved to 18-5 and 14-4 in the CCAA. The Broncos forced Chico State into 23 turnovers—the most by the Wildcats this season.
 
Calvin Geraci and Kevin Warren paced Chico State with 15 points apiece. Geraci also pulled down a team-best six rebounds. The Wildcats outrebounded Cal Poly Pomona 34-26 but shot just 21-of-51 overall and 7-of-21 from 3-point range and their 23 turnovers resulted in 24 Cal Poly Pomona points.
 
After jumping out to a 4-0 lead, Chico State committed turnovers on its next three possessions and 10 of the next 16. They finished with 16 first-half turnovers, seven of which came during a nine-minute stretch during which they did not make a basket and were outscored 13-1.
 
Still, thanks to a strong defensive half, the Wildcats trailed by only nine at the break (29-20).
 
They got as close as seven on Joshua Hamilton's 3-pointer with 16:23 remaining, but did not score another field goal for nearly six minutes as the Broncos pushed the lead to 16. It remained in double digits from there on out.
 
Despite Thursday's result, the Wildcats could come home feeling pretty good about the weekend with a win at Cal State San Bernardino Saturday. It would put Chico State right back to within a game of second place and provide a terrific boost to the Wildcats' already solid NCAA Championship Tournament resume.
 
The game is scheduled to tip off at 7:30 p.m. and will be broadcast locally on FM 93.9 KPAY. Links to streaming audio, streaming video and live stats are available at www.chicowildcats.com.