SAN BERNARDINO—Following its most disappointing and lopsided loss of the season Thursday night at Cal Poly Pomona, the Chico State men's basketball team's Saturday showdown at Cal State San Bernardino was sure to provide a picture of what the Chico State men's basketball team is made of. Or as head coach Greg Clink put it in the pre-game show on FM 93.9 KPAY: "a measure of its chest cavity."
 
Every valve and ventricle was pumping, perhaps even as ferociously as those of the Wildcats' fans listening at home, as Chico State won 92-88, handing the 16^th-ranked Coyotes just their second loss since Dec. 12.
 
The Wildcats improved to 18-6 and 13-5 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) while Cal State San Bernardino slipped to 19-5 and 14-4.
 
Justin Briggs scored 20 of his season-high 22 points in the first half and added 10 rebounds and two blocked shots to lead the way. With Briggs sitting for much of the second half in foul trouble—he eventually fouled out with two minutes to play—Isaiah Brooks, Malik Duffy, and Joshua Hamilton took over the offensive reigns. Brooks scored all 13 of his points after intermission, Duffy 12 of his 16, and Hamilton all 11.
 
Hamilton was not the only Wildcat to make a big contribution off the bench. Spencer LaShells had nine points and Amari Stroud seven points and four rebounds as the Chico State reserves outscored Cal State San Bernardino's 32-8.
 
The Wildcats also outrebounded the Coyotes, who entered the game on top of the national ranks with a +10.6 rebounding margin, 43-39.
 
They did it all despite playing Thursday night while Cal State San Bernardino had all week to prepare for the Wildcats. Chico State is the CCAA's "lone wolf" this season. Because the conference features 13 teams, one is scheduled to play a number of Saturday games following Thursday in which it has played but its opponent has not.
 
The Wildcats are unbeaten in the six such games they've played this season, including Saturday night.
 
"I've been proud of a lot of my teams but it's hard to imagine being prouder of a team than I am tonight," Clink told Mike Baca on the KPAY postgame show. "The way we played poorly Thursday night, to bounce back like this, that's just a toughness deal."
 
The win leaves the Wildcats just a game behind Cal Poly Pomona (which beat Chico State 73-57 Thursday in Pomona) and Cal State San Bernardino for second place in the CCAA standings with four games to play. It also provides another important boost to their NCAA Championship Tournament resume with the first edition of the NCAA Regional rankings due to hit Wednesday afternoon.
 
Chico State now has road wins against CCAA leader UC San Diego, Great Northwest Athletic Conference regular-season champion Seattle Pacific, and nationally-ranked Cal State San Bernardino.
 
But perhaps the most important thing Saturday night's game provided was an opportunity for the Wildcats to build conference heading into the final two weeks of the regular season and the postseason.
 
Briggs made sure they did. The senior center dominated the first half, piling up 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting, seven rebounds, and two blocked shots. Brooks found him for a bucket at the buzzer and the Wildcats went to the break up 44-39.
 
Chico State built on its lead throughout the early going of the second half, eventually growing it to 61-49 on Duffy's 3-pointer with 13:58 to play.
 
The Coyotes stormed back with an 11-1 push to take their only lead of the half, 69-68, with 7:54 remaining before Chico State answered with a 7-0 run to reclaim the lead for good.  
 
The lead was only two before Hamilton caught fire. The redshirt freshman flushed a triple, two free throws, and another 3 on the Wildcats' next three possessions to stretch the advantage back out to eight.
 
The advantage was five when Kevin Warren, who had missed his first eight shots of the night, hit a gutsy runner in the lane to keep the Coyotes at bay.
 
Cal State San Bernardino cut the lead to three on three occasions in the final minute, but each time the Wildcats kept it a two-possession game at the free throw line. Duffy hit a pair of free throws with 38 seconds to play. Brooks knocked down two with 25 seconds left. And the Brooks sealed the win with a free throw with 12 ticks on the clock.
 
Chico State will be back in action in Acker Gym next week when it hosts San Francisco State Thursday night and Sonoma State Saturday. That game will be the regular-season home finale and a chance for Chico State fans to celebrate Briggs' fabulous career. The lone senior on the active roster, Briggs broke the program's career blocked shots record earlier this season. He also ranks tied for third in career field-goal percentage (.573), fifth in career rebounds (667) and is 46 points shy of becoming the 20^th Wildcat to reach the 1,000-point milestone.
 
The Wildcats will wrap up the regular season on the road at Humboldt State on Feb. 27 and Stanislaus State on Feb. 29.
 
All four of those games are scheduled to tipoff at 7:30 p.m.