SAN MARCOS, Calif. – Friday's CCAA Men's Basketball Championship semifinal game between No. 2 seeded Chico State and No. 3 Cal State San Bernardino will go down as an instant classic.
In a game that saw 24 lead changes, including 18 in the entire second half, the Wildcats prevailed in the end when Caden Harris grabbed a missed game-tying 3-point attempt with two seconds left and made both free throws to hold off the Coyotes 75-70 to advance to the conference championship for the first time in 10 years.
Friday's game also had NCAA Regional implications as Chico State (24-5) and Cal State San Bernardino (22-11) were ranked No. 4 and No. 5, respectively, in the West.
Chico State will now take on Cal State Dominguez Hills for CCAA Championship final on Saturday. Tipoff is at 5 p.m. The winner will receive the conference's automatic berth to the NCAA Regionals, even though both teams are in excellent standing with the championship committee to receive a berth. The two teams took wins on their opponent's home floor in the regular season.
Trae Taylor made his presence felt throughout the entire game, scoring 24 points including 14 in the second half. He also grabbed 16 of the Wildcats' 33 rebounds in the entire game. Harris dropped in 19 points including his only pair of free throws at the end and reigning CCAA Player of the Year Jojo Murphy finished with 16 points.
Former Wildcat Evan Oliver and Charlie Henderson led the effort for the Coyotes by scoring 21 points. While Oliver dished out 11 assists for a double-double, Henderson made an impressive 5-of-7 baskets from the 3-point line. Andrew Henderson tallied 17 points for CSUSB as well.
While it was close most of the game, there was a moment where the Wildcats had a large gap. Taylor was part of a 10-2 run that gave Chico State a 24-14 lead with nine minutes left. It was the largest lead in the entire game. The Coyotes did respond immediately with a 13-2 run of their own to retake the lead 27-26 with 2:30 left. It would then begin a see-saw battle for the remaining 22:30 in the game.
The largest lead San Bernardino had was six, which was one minute into the second half.
Chico State ended the day shooting 42.4 percent (28-for-66) from the field while San Bernardino went 41.7 percent (25-for-60).
