SAN MARCOS, Calif. – Jojo Murphy scored 26 points and Isaiah Kerr had 18 but the Chico State men's basketball team ran out of time to recover from a double-digit deficit as the Wildcats lost a 74-68 heartbreak decision to Cal State Dominguez Hills in a battle between the top-seeded teams in the CCAA Championship title game Saturday night.
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Although Chico State missed out on receiving an automatic bid to NCAA Regionals, the Wildcats' 24-6 overall record will be impressive enough for them to receive an at-large berth to the national tournament beginning next week.
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The NCAA Selection Show will start at 8 p.m. Pacific Time on NCAA.com. Be sure to move the clock forward as Daylight Saving Time begins tonight.
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It had been a long time since both teams have played in the CCAA Championship game. For Chico State it had been 10 years while Dominguez Hills it has been since 2011, which the Toros won.
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While Dominguez Hills started off on a 12-3 lead from the start, Chico State did climb out of the hole and went on a 12-point run to take a 23-18 lead halfway through the opening period.
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The difference in the game came after Chico State's run. The Toros flipped the tide in their favor and a 13-2 run put them ahead for eventually the rest of the game. Dominguez Hills had a 38-31 lead at halftime.
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Chico State would have to recover being down by 13 with 16 minutes left in the game. The Wildcats did succeed in getting defensive rebounds, they came up unlucky in their shots afterwards.
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The Wildcats were able to trim the lead to seven for most of the period. Ned Joyce got an important driving layup to make it a 70-68 deficit with 12 seconds left. Down by four with 25 seconds left, the Wildcats caught a huge break when Toro Jeremy Dent-Smith couldn't secure an inbound pass on the Wildcats' baseline. Ned Joyce benefited from the turnover with a driving layup to cut the deficit to two with 19 seconds left.
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Dominguez Hills' Jordan Hilstock made a pair of free throws after to bring the Toros' lead back to four. Because of the Toros' stellar defense throughout the night, they forced Joyce to make a tough shot from near the Wildcats' bench that was missed and recovered by Hilstock with two seconds left. Hilstock would make the final pair of free throws to put the game out of Chico State's reach.
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Chico State impressively kept Dent-Smith quiet in the game, limiting the 2023-24 CCAA Player of the Year to five points.
Both sides had near identical numbers in the shooting department. Chico State made 40.7 percent (24-for-59) of its shots while Dominguez Hills hit 3.93 percent (22-for-56).
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Following the game, Murphy, the 2024-25 CCAA Player of the Year, was selected to the CCAA All-Tournament team with teammate Trae Taylor, who was the player of the game in the semifinal win over Cal State San Bernardino Friday afternoon.
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