Coming off of four straight wins and earning the No. 25 rank in the latest national rankings, the Wildcats kept their momentum going with two important wins on the road.
The Wildcats’ 15-3 record was good enough for second in the conference, but with only four games remaining, they faced a two-game deficit against Cal State Dominguez Hills for the top spot.
On Thursday, The Wildcats took on the Cal State LA Golden Eagles at University Stadium and squeaked out a narrow but high-scoring 93-90 win.
The game had nine lead changes and six ties with both teams eclipsing 40 points in both halves. Junior forward Trae Taylor dominated the Golden Eagles for a career-high 26 points, going 12-13 from the free-throw line and grabbing seven rebounds.
Taylor has eclipsed 70% from the free throw line after a four-game stretch of shooting 23-of-29 from the stripe, fueling his fourth consecutive double-digit effort. Junior guard Jojo Murphy had his 14th 20-point game of the season, adding 22 points on an impressive 10-of-21 shooting performance from the floor.
While starters have carried the scoring load in the prior three games, the Wildcats bench outscored the Golden Eagles bench 21-6, with 10 points from freshman forward Cortevious Taylor, and seven points from Ned Joyce. Joyce also grabbed six rebounds and dished out four assists.
The Golden Eagles only had three players in double figures, but all three had big games to keep pace with the recently rampant Wildcat offense. Senior Shane Bell had a season-high 25 points on a beyond-efficient 8-of-10 shooting mark. Seniors Corey Cofield and Dominic Escobar scored 23 and 19 respectively.
The game remained within five points for the last nine minutes of the second half, culminating in a dramatic finish. After his shot was blocked, Murphy grabbed the rebound, recovered and sank a contested three-pointer with just five seconds left to secure the Wildcats’ victory.
After securing their fifth straight win on Thursday night, the Wildcats headed to Cal State Dominguez Hills to face the first place Toros, who have a 18-1 conference record and are holding onto a seven-game winning streak. With their hopes of competing for the conference title on the line, the game was do-or-die for the Wildcats.
The Toros handily beat the Wildcats 79-58 in their first meeting at Acker Gymnasium, however, the loss came with an asterisk due to four starters not playing in their first meeting. Junior Forward Caden Harris, Murphy and Trae were out for “disciplinary reasons”, while Junior guard Miles Daniels was out with an injury.
Although Daniels was once again out with an injury, the other three starters who didn’t play in the previous matchup made their impact felt in the Wildcats’ 86-79 win over their conference foes.
Murphy led the Wildcats with 23 points, eight assists and six rebounds and Junior Guard Max Walters flirted with a double-double by adding 11 points and eight boards.
The Wildcats felt the absence of forwards Harris and Trae in the first matchup, losing the rebounding battle 45-30. Closing the gap in the second game, the Toros only out rebounded them by one.
After going into the half trailing 36-40, the Wildcats excelled on both ends of the floor by shooting 55% from the floor in the second half and held the Toros to a lowly 35%.Former Wildcat forward and Toro transfer Adam Afifi, who led the team with 16 in their last matchup, was locked up defensively. He only scored two points, while shooting an abysmal 1-of-8 from the field and committing four turnovers.
Junior guard and former All-American Jeremy Dent-Smith carried the Toros offense, scoring 28 points while hitting six 3-pointers.Clinging to a one-point lead with less than a minute remaining, Murphy once again played the hero by sinking a mid-range jumper with 0:37 seconds remaining on the clock to give the Wildcats a three-point advantage, forcing the Toros to play the foul game.
Saturday’s win gives further likelihood of a first round bye in the CCAA Championships hosted by Cal State San Marcos while also keeping their title hopes alive. They will need a Toro loss and two wins in their final games of the season to secure the conference title.
They will face Sonoma State on Thursday, and Cal State San Marcos on Saturday for the conference finale at Acker Gymnasium.
Home games are free for students who bring their student ID or show their Canvas home page.
For information about all Chico State athletics or to keep up with the game live, visit the Wildcat home page, or watch through FloSports.
JJ Fain can be reached at orionmanagingeditor@gmail.com.
