SAN FRANCISCO—With only eight players available, one might have expected the Chico State men's basketball team to throttle its effort back, just a smidge, on the defensive end. If one did, one was mistaken. In fact, the 7^th-ranked Wildcats rode their defensive effort to a 60-56 victory at San Francisco State Thursday night, bouncing back from their first loss of the season.
 
Chico State held San Francisco State to 35% shooting and turned 19 Gators turnovers into 22 points to improve to 11-1 overall and 7-1 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association. San Francisco State slipped to 7-9 overall and 4-5 in the CCAA.
 
Colby Orr led Chico State's offense for the third straight game, finishing with 18 points in his first Chico State start. Kevin Warren kept a flagging offense afloat—the Wildcats made just two field goals in the game's final 13 minutes—with two late 3-pointers. He finished with 14 points. 
 
Malik Duffy gave Chico State's its penultimate lead with a jumper with 3:04 to go, and then gave the Wildcats the lead for good with a pair of free throws with 1:04 remaining. He struggled with his shot, hitting only 3-of-10, but made all five of his free throws and finished with 11 points to go along with six rebounds, three assists, three steals, and a pair of blocked shots. He and Kelvin Wright Jr. keyed a defensive effort that allowed just 22 San Francisco State points in the paint. Wright Jr. finished with eight points and nine rebounds.
 
Joshua Curls also made his first Chico State start, joining Orr, Duffy, Wright Jr., and Warren, as regular starters Isaiah Brooks and Joshua Hamilton sat out due to COVID-19 protocols. 
 
Evan Oliver railed a 3-pointer to spark a 16-2 push, capped by Brennan Wheeler's turnaround jumper in the lane, that staked the Wildcats to a double-digit first half lead. They remained in control and Wheeler's bucket with 13:25 to play had the Wildcats ahead 44-35.
 
San Francisco State was determined to capture its third win in a row, however, and used a 10-1 run to knot the score at 45 apiece. Warren answered with a triple from the top of the arc and added another less than two minutes later to keep the Gators at bay for a bit. But they bounced back to re-tie the game on a Sean Orr 3-pointer with 4:25 to play. 
 
Chico State's defense forced five missed shots and two turnovers from that point forward, however. The last turnover came following Duffy's two free throws that gave Chico State the lead for good. Orr was fouled after that and hit both of his free throws to make it a 4-point game with 13 seconds left.
 
The Wildcats will head south down the coast tomorrow in preparation for Saturday afternoon's showdown with Cal State Monterey Bay. The Otters beat Stanislaus State Thursday night to move to 7-4 overall and 6-2 in the CCAA. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. 
 
Cal State Monterey Bay has instituted a no-spectators policy for Saturday's game at The Kelp Bed, with no fans being admitted. Fans can still follow the action, with the game broadcast locally on KPAY-AM 1290 and online. A live video broadcast of the game is available for purchase on the CCAA Network.
 
Links to streaming video, audio and live stats can be found at www.chicowildcats.com in the calendar section of the website's homepage, and on the men's basketball schedule page.