CHICO, Calif. – The Cal State San Marcos men’s basketball team (2-5, 2-1 CCAA) ended its four-game road trip with an 83-77 loss to Chico State (3-4, 2-1 CCAA) on Saturday afternoon at Acker Gymnasium.
TOP PERFORMERS
Zack Perlstein – 19 points | 7 rebounds | 3 assists
Greg Milton III – 19 points | 2 assists
Joel Mensah – 17 points | 11 rebounds | 2 steals
Jayce McCain – 13 points | 3 assists
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Cougars began the game with a 9-3 lead after Perlstein made back-to-back buckets to give CSUSM its largest lead of the half with 16:54 to go in the period.
Chico tied the game at 16 with a 3-pointer by Jojo Murphy with 12:26 remaining and took their first lead of the afternoon with a layup by Miles Daniels to go up 18-16 with 11:11 to go in the half.
A 7-2 run by the Cougars was capped by a Milton jumper and gave CSUSM the lead once against 23-22 with 6:19 left in the period.
Trailing 28-25, the Wildcats ended the half on a 9-0 run and took a 34-28 lead into the locker room.
Perlstein led the Cougars with nine points in the first half.
At 46.2% (12-of-26), the Cougars outshot the Wildcats’ 44.4% (12-of-27) while both teams went 40% from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes.
After Evan Oliver put Chico up by nine at 43-34 with a pair of free throws, CSUSM scored seven unanswered points and trailed 43-41 after a Perlstein jumper in the paint with 16:10 to play.
Chico took a 10-point lead at 53-43 with a free throw by Murphy at the 13:15 mark of the second half.
Down 55-46, CSUSM put together its best run of the game with nine consecutive points and tied the game at 55-all on a Mensah jumper with 9:54 remaining.
Never taking the lead in the second half, the Cougars kept the Wildcats’ lead to single digits until a pair of free throws by Murphy with 46 ticks remaining gave Chico its largest lead of the game at 77-66.
Milton scored CSUSM’s final eight points in the remaining 32 seconds of the game, but it wasn’t enough as Chico ended the game with an 83-77 win.
The Cougars shot 59.4% (19-of-32) in the second period while the Wildcats clocked in at 46.4%.
Chico was 19-of-20 (95%) from the foul line in the final 20 minutes.
FAST BREAKS
With 19 points each, this is the second consecutive game in which Perlstein and Milton have led the Cougars with the same point total. The duo posted 20 points each on Thursday at Stanislaus State.
Mensah recorded his first double-double as a Cougar with 17 points and a career-high 11 rebounds.
Of the Cougars’ 77 points, 40 came in the paint.
CSUSM shot over 50% from the field for the third consecutive game as it ended the contest at 53.4% (31-58), outshooting Chico’s 45.5% (25-of-55).
Chico went to the charity stripe 26 times and took advantage by making 23 shots (88.5%). Free throws plagued CSUSM as the Cougars shot just 50% (9-of-18).
The Cougars committed a season-low eight turnovers for the second consecutive game while the Wildcats posted 11.
CSUSM tallied six steals to Chico’s two.
The Wildcats had the advantage on the boards at 37-28.
The Cougars committed a season-high 24 fouls.
Both sides dished out 12 assists.
Chico’s Murphy led the game with 30 points.
UP NEXT
CSUSM will begin a four-game homestand on Thursday as it faces San Francisco State at 7:30 p.m. in The Sports Center.
