The Chico State men's basketball team played its first home game of the season Saturday afternoon, and the hearty and amped-up crowd at Acker Gym was treated to a dandy. The Wildcats got the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) conference season off to a successful start, hitting several big shots to keep a talented Stanislaus State squad at bay, with the Wildcats topping the Warriors by a final of 64-55.
Saturday's win snapped Chico State's two-game mini-losing streak, giving the Wildcats an overall record of 2-3 and 1-0 in the CCAA. Stanislaus State slipped to 2-5 on the season and 0-1 in conference play.
Jojo Murphy came through with a game-high 17 points for the Wildcats—12 coming in the first 13 minutes of the contest. Brennan Wheeler knocked down three 3-pointers and finished with 11 points on the afternoon, while Evan Oliver chipped in with 10. Justin Vigil snared a team-high 11 rebounds as the 'Cats beat Stanislaus for the 14th time in their last 16 meetings.
A Murphy layup and a Wheeler 3-pointer accounted for the first five points of the contest, but a 14-6 Stanislaus State run put the Warriors on top 14-11. Murphy quickly tied the game with a trey, and with the score knotted up at 18-all, Chico State regained a lead it would not relinquish. Murphy drained another 3-pointer and dropped in a layup; Isaiah Holm knocked down a jumper in the paint; Oliver collected a pair of free throws, and Miles Daniels supplied a layup to put the 'Cats up seven. With the first period ending, Daniels delivered a buzzer-beating layup to give Chico State a 31-22 halftime lead.
The Wildcats pushed its advantage to 14 points to start the second half, with Oliver starting the proceedings with a 3-pointer. A Joshua Hamilton layup made the score 38-24, but Chico State was then held scoreless over the next four-and-a-half minutes. This gave Stanislaus a chance to climb back into the contest, and the Warriors were able to whittle the deficit to a deuce at 40-38 with 12:09 to play. Once again the 'Cats responded to the challenge—Murphy sank a pair of free throws, Holm flipped in a hook shot, Daniels scored via a fast-break layup, and both Wheeler and Oliver rattled home 3-balls to suddenly extend Chico State's lead to 52-40 with 7:08 remaining.
Stanislaus refused to go away, pulling to within eight and making it anyone's game with a little over four minutes to play. Murphy and Wheeler promptly knocked down 3-pointers to push Chico State's lead back to 14 at 60-46, and the Warriors simply could not respond to the Wildcats' latest offensive barrage. To its credit, Stanislaus cut the lead in half late in the contest, but an uncontested layup by Wheeler as time ran out officially put the bow on the 'Cats' 64-55 victory.
The Wildcats continue CCAA conference play next week with a pair of games at Acker Gym. Thursday, the 'Cats take on Cal State LA, with play getting underway at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, December 3, the Chico State goes head-to-head with Cal State San Marcos, with tipoff slated for 3 p.m.
