CHICO, Calif. – In an instant classic, the No. 9/10 Cal State San Marcos men’s basketball team (12-0, 8-0 CCAA) handed No. 4/5 Chico State (10-1, 6-1 CCAA) its first loss of the season with an 87-85 overtime victory on Thursday night at Acker Gymnasium.
TOP PERFORMERS
Jayce McCain – 23 points | 8 rebounds
Blake Seits – 19 points | 7 rebounds | 11-of-12 FT
Alex Gil-Fernandez – 17 points
Tyrone Nesby IV – 9 points | 8 rebounds
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Cougars took an early 4-2 lead on layups by Mensah and Milton.
Tied at 7-all, Chico went on a 7-0 run to go up 14-7 with 14:44 remaining in the first half.
The Wildcats made it an eight-point lead at 21-13 on a layup by Brennan Wheeler with 11:33 to go in the half.
CSUSM used a 9-1 run to knot things up once again at 22 as Seits drained both of his free throws.
Chico went up 30-24 with two free throws by Malik Duffy with 6:01 to go
CSUSM stormed back to end the half on a 15-6 run and take a 39-36 lead into the locker room.
Gil-Fernandez led the Cougars with 13 points in the first 20 minutes as CSUSM shot 55.2% (16-of-29) while Chico came in at 53.8% (14-of-26).
In the second half, a Wildcat turnover turned into a 3-pointer by Seits, who put the Cougars up 56-50 with 13 minutes remaining.
Chico State then scored six unanswered points to tie at 56-all with 10:36 remaining.
CSUSM took its largest lead of the game at 68-61 as Seits made the first two of his three free throws.
With the Cougars still up by seven at 77-70 with 3:27 remaining, the Wildcats began to chip away at CSUSM’s lead.
With just nine seconds left and the Cougars up 79-77, the Wildcats’ Colby Orr got a layup to go and tied the game.
A second-chance jumper in the paint by Milton with less than a second remaining went off the rim and sent the game into overtime.
The Wildcats shot 51.6% (16-of-31) in the second half while holding the Cougars to 37.5% (12-of-32), but CSUSM was able to score nine points off Chico’s eight turnovers.
CSUSM and Chico stayed within three points of each other for the entire five minutes of overtime.
Tied at 83, a McCain jumper followed by a good Milton free throw put CSUSM up by 3 with 55 seconds remaining in the extra period.
On the next possession, Orr cut CSUSM’s lead to 86-85 on a layup with 40 seconds remaining.
With six ticks on the clock, Gil-Fernandez made it an 87-85 lead as he made the first of his two free throws.
A layup at the buzzer by Orr dangled on the back of the rim before falling to the right and sealing the win for CSUSM.
FAST BREAKS
At No. 4/5, Chico State is the highest-ranked opponent CSUSM has ever defeated as an NCAA member.
The Cougars continued their best-ever start by moving to 12-0.
With Chico’s defeat, CSUSM is now just one of four teams in Division II without a loss this season.
The Cougars now have two wins against ranked opponents this season – the other being then-No. 24/9 Point Loma on Nov. 20.
CSUSM now has sole possession of first place in the CCAA standings.
This was CSUSM’s first win in Chico since Feb. 11, 2017.
The Cougars ended the game shooting 45.5% (30-of-66) while the Wildcats had the hotter hand at 50% (33-of-66).
CSUSM’s 22 made free throws were a season high as they ended the game shooting 88%.
Seits’ 11 made free throws were the most by a CSUSM player this season and were a career high.
McCain’s eight rebounds were a career high while Nesby’s eight tied his career high for the sixth time.
CSUSM had the lead for 25:44 while Chico clocked in at 14:40.
UP NEXT
Due to Saturday’s game at Stanislaus State being canceled because of COVID health and safety measures, CSUSM will return to action next Thursday when it travels to Cal Poly Pomona for a 7:30 p.m. matchup.
