OAKLAND—The Chico State men's basketball team's midweek trek to the Bay Area to face non-conference opponent Holy Names did not exactly yield the results the Wildcats were looking for. The host Hawks, picked to finish in the lower reaches of the Pacific West Conference, played their best game of the young season Wednesday night, knocking down 11 3-pointers and using big scoring runs in both the first and second half to down the 'Cats 81-68 at Tobin Gymnasium in Oakland.
Chico State's record slipped to 1-2 with Wednesday's loss, while Holy Names registered the program's first-ever win over the Wildcats to improve to 1-2 on the season.
Joshua Hamilton led all players with 20 points on the night, and paced the Wildcats with seven rebounds and six assists. Justin Vigil contributed 12 points to the 'Cats' attack, with Evan Oliver and Jojo Murphy each scoring 10 points. A season-high 16 turnovers, though, loomed large in the Chico State defeat.
The game was a back-and-forth affair early on, with a 3-pointer by Brennan Wheeler and baskets by Vigil, Murphy, and Isaiah Holm staking the 'Cats to a 11-8 lead. Holy Names went in front 15-13, but a 10-4 Wildcats run—highlighted by an Oliver trey and buckets by Murphy and Miles Daniels—put Chico State back on top 23-19. With 6:42 left to play in the first period, the Wildcats were still on top 25-22 when the Hawks closed out the half with an 18-5 run, denying Chico State a single field goal during that stretch. As a result, Holy Names took a 40-30 lead into intermission.
A Holm layup and a Vigil 3-pointer brought the 'Cats to within seven early in the second period, but Holy Names was able to push its advantage back into double digits and posted its biggest lead of the night at 62-47 with 10:49 to play. Chico State's offense suddenly got hot, quickly climbing back into the contest by outscoring the Hawks 14-1 over the next four minutes to whittle the deficit to 63-61. Murphy's jumper with 5:37 remaining made the score 65-63 and kept the 'Cats within a deuce, but the Chico State offense proceeded to fall silent at just the wrong time—the Wildcats were held to just one field goal for the rest of the half, and Holy Names took full advantage, pulling away with an 18-7 run to register the 81-68 victory.
The Wildcats are back in action Saturday at 4 p.m., as they travel to Belmont to take on Academy of Art in Chico State's final non-conference contest before beginning California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) play November 26 versus Stanislaus State.
