First it was maddening. Then it was madness. In the end it was euphoria inside of Acker Gym. After all, it is March.
The Chico State men's basketball team rallied from eight points down with less than five minutes left and still four down with under a minute to go om regulation before beating visiting Stanislaus State 75-73 in overtime to advance to the second round of the California Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament.
Simply put, the Wildcats survived and advanced, beating the Warriors in overtime for the second time in four days.
Kevin Warren scored a game-high 21 points to lead the Wildcats. Isaiah Brooks had 10 points, including five straight critical free throws in the final five minutes, and dished out a game-high seven assists. Calvin Geraci scored 13 points and gave the Wildcats a five-point lead with less than two minutes remaining in overtime with a huge 3-pointer. And Justin Briggs finished with 12 points, six rebounds, four blocks, two steals, and threw down one of the most ferocious dunks in Acker Gym memory, bringing life to the place after what had been a rough night up until that point.
Briggs' first bucket—he made all five of his attempts—was a 5-foot jumper that put him up and over 1,000 career points. He's the 20th player in Chico State program history to reach that milestone.
Chico State, now 23-6, advances to the CCAA Tournament semifinals for the eighth time in the last 11 years and will face Cal Poly Pomona Friday at noon at RIMAC Arena on the campus of UC San Diego, in La Jolla. The Wildcats and Broncos finished tied for second in the conference standings this season, but the Broncos earned the No. 2 seed by virtue of their season sweep against Chico State. Cal Poly Pomona also won in overtime Tuesday, beating Cal State Dominguez Hills 67-66 to improve to 22-6.
For much of the night at Acker Gym, it appeared that a rash of turnovers and terrible free throw shooting would cost the Wildcats a win in their final home game of the season. They missed 12 of their first 16 free throws and committed 21 turnovers.
Meanwhile, Stanislaus State made 10 of its first 13 from the stripe. It looked as though free throw shooting would be the difference in the game.
In the end, it was. Chico State made 8-of-8 in the final 4:16 and Stanislaus State missed 3-of-4 in the final 16 seconds.
Malik Duffy drained a pair with 15 seconds to play to tie the game after he was fouled rebounding a Stanislaus State missed free throw at the other end.
The Warriors had a chance to win it in regulation, but Briggs blocked his fourth shot of the night to help force overtime.
The Wildcats won the opening tip in overtime and Duffy hit a jumper in the lane to give Chico State a lead it would not relinquish. Warren grabbed a steal went coast-to-coast to draw a foul and knocked down both free throws for a four-point lead.
The advantage was two with under two minutes to play when Geraci railed a 3-pointer from the left wing, giving Brooks his seventh assist of the night. The Warriors still had a chance to win it, but Darius Scott missed a long 3-pointer, contested by Briggs, at the buzzer.
Duffy finished with nine points and nine rebounds, and Amari Stroud played big minutes off the bench, chipping in six points, four rebounds, two assists, and a steal in 14 minutes of work.
In Friday's other CCAA Tournament semifinal, top seed and tournament host UC San Diego will take on the No. 5 seed, Cal State East Bay at 2:30.
The winners of Saturday's semifinals will square off for the tournament title and automatic NCAA Championship Tournament bid Saturday at 5 p.m.
Chico State's game Friday will be aired locally on AM-1290 KPAY Sports. If the Wildcats advance to the title game, that game will be on FM-93.9 KPAY.
2019–20 CCAA TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Quarterfinals - Tuesday, March 3:
#1 UC San Diego 89, #8 Cal State LA 70
#2 Cal Poly Pomona 67, #7 Cal State Dominguez Hills 66 (OT)
#3 Chico State 75, #6 Stanislaus State 73 (OT)
#5 Cal State East Bay 70, #4 Cal State San Bernardino 68
Semifinals (La Jolla, Calif.) - Friday, March 6:
#2 Cal Poly Pomona vs. #3 Chico State | RIMAC Arena | Noon
#1 UC San Diego vs. #5 Cal State East Bay | RIMAC Arena | 2:30 p.m.
Final (La Jolla, Calif.) - Saturday, March 7:
RIMAC Arena | 5 p.m. (winner earns automatic NCAA Championship Tournament bid)
Isaiah Brooks goes coast to coast following a steal for a layup during Tuesday night's CCAA Tournament game against Stanislaus State. Brooks finished with 10 points and seven assists.
(Photo by Ryan McCasland)
