The No. 1 seeded Chico State men’s basketball team lost their second game in a row to the eighth seeded Cal State L.A. Golden Eagles 37-54 on March 1 at home. This loss knocked them out of the CCAA championship tournament in the first round.

The team has lost two games to the Golden Eagles in the span of four days. This is the first time that the ‘Cats have lost back-to-back games in the 2015-2016 season.

It seemed to be a night in which everything that could go wrong for the Wildcats, did go wrong. They only scored 37 points, their lowest total of the season. This year’s team had never scored less than 56 points in a game before this point.

They shot 15-57 from the field and 1-13 from the 3-point line, good for 26 and 7 percent, respectively. Cal State L.A. shot 20-41 from the field, meaning that almost half their shots went in on the night.

The ‘Cats also only made 40 percent of their free throws, had seven assists and turned the ball over 14 times.

This loss puts the team in an awkward spot. They had a sensational year overall, but now have lost to a team with a negative record twice in four days. The ‘Cats are hoping their stellar season alone will be enough to get them into the NCAA championship tournament on selection Sunday.

Top Performers

Senior forward Tanner Giddings: 10 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists

Junior guard Robert Duncan: 7 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists

Patrick Pace can be reached at [email protected] or @PatPaceSports on Twitter