The Chico State men's basketball team is still alive in the pursuit of a California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Tournament berth, but the chance for the Wildcats to separate themselves from a very bunched-up middle of the conference standings is getting ever smaller. The 'Cats dropped their fourth straight decision Thursday, falling to San Francisco State 64-60 in front of an energetic crowd at Acker Gym.
Chico State is now 10-14 on the season, and in slipping to 8-11 in CCAA play, the Wildcats are now in a four-way tie for seventh place in the conference standings. With three games remaining, the top six teams at the end of the regular season go on to play in the CCAA Tournament, with an opportunity to earn an NCAA Championship Tournament berth. The 'Cats remain in a very crowded field vying for one of the four remaining conference tourney bids, but with Thursday's loss, Chico State finds itself—at least for the moment—on the outside looking in.
San Francisco State improved to 13-12 overall with Thursday's win, placing the Gators all alone in fifth place in the CCAA with a 9-10 conference mark.
Evan Oliver led three Chico State players in double figures with 17 points, with Joshua Hamilton adding 15 points to the 'Cats' attack. Jojo Murphy added 14 points, but it was a cold shooting night overall for the Wildcats, hitting just 36.5 percent of their field goal attempts while missing 16 of 23 3-point tries.
On the strength of a Hamilton 3-pointer and buckets by Murphy and Kelvin Wright Jr., Chico State grabbed a 7-3 lead early in the first half. After San Francisco State briefly went ahead, a 7-0 run by the Wildcats—Hamilton delivering a three-point play and a fast break layup—put Chico State back in front 14-8. The lead see-sawed back and forth for the remainder of the period, but the 'Cats went into the locker room up 28-27 at intermission courtesy of a Murphy jump shot with 45 seconds left in the half.
San Francisco State opened the second half on a 13-5 run to vault into the lead, and were up 46-39 when Murphy and Oliver bookended a Hamilton layup with 3-pointers, pulling the Wildcats to within one at 48-47. Despite staying close the rest of the way, the 'Cats were unable to wrestle the lead away from the Gators. San Francisco State widened its advantage to six points with 2:09 remaining, but Oliver drained a 3-pointer and connected on a jumper to make it a 60-58 game with 1:14 left. A three-point play by San Francisco State with under a minute to play turned out to be a back-breaker for the 'Cats, and a Gators free throw with 10 seconds to go made it a two-possession game. It was too little time for Chico State to come back, and San Francisco State was able to run out the clock and score the 64-60 victory, sweeping the season series from the Wildcats.
Chico State will play at Acker Gym for the final time this season Saturday night, when it hosts the Otters of Cal State Monterey Bay (10-13, 8-10 CCAA). Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. It is also Senior Night, and proceeding the game a special ceremony will be held to honor outgoing Wildcat seniors Kaleb Carter, Justin Vigil, Dylan Belquist, and Brennan Wheeler.
