The Chico State men’s basketball team emerged victorious from the first game of this weekend’s road trip, defeating San Francisco State Friday, 67-50.

The Wildcats came into Friday’s contest looking to extend their three-game winning streak after an impressive win over Seattle Pacific University in last weekend’s Mac Martin Invitational finale.

Early first half action was marred by sloppy play from Chico State, who spent the first 12 minutes of regulation accumulating four turnovers on their way to shooting a woeful 11.1% from 3-point territory.

A jumper in traffic at the 8:15 mark courtesy of forward Amir Carraway was followed promptly by a layup from forward Jordan Semple, giving the Wildcats their first lead of the night. A late 12-2 run punctuated by a tip-in from Semple helped the ‘Cats to a 24-19 lead with only 4:49 remaining in the half.

Semple would flirt with a double-double at halftime, notching 8 points and pulling down 8 boards in only 16 minutes of play.

Despite finishing the half shooting 2-15 from beyond the arc, Chico State escaped the first 20 minutes of regulation nursing a 33-27 lead.

Defensive pressure from the Wildcats pushed the Gators out of their comfort zone early in the second, frustrating the home team into forced perimeter shots late in the shot clock. Chico State controlled the pace of the game from the start of the half, exploiting San Francisco State’s lackadaisical rebounding effort and finishing the game with a 41-23 advantage on the boards.

A tip-in from big man Jordan Barton off a Giordano Estrada miss at the 8:43 mark electrified the Wildcats bench and pushed the game to a 50-37 lead in favor of the Wildcats. The deficit would prove insurmountable for the home team, who scored only twice against Chico State’s suffocating defense in the final 6:09 of the game.

The Wildcats will stay in the Bay to take on Sonoma State University on Saturday. The game begins at 7:30pm.

Taylor Maddox can be reached at [email protected] or @theorion_sports on Twitter.