Broncos trample Wildcats’ winning streak

Lucero Del Rayo-Nava|February 17, 2019

%2312+Marvin+Timothy+attempts+to+get+the+rebound+against+Cal+State+Pomona+Photo+credit%3A+Melissa+Herrera
Gallery // 6 Photos
#12 Marvin Timothy attempts to get the rebound against Cal State Pomona Photo credit: Melissa Herrera

The Wildcats were at an all-time high on their four-game winning streak facing off against California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, the second seed in their conference. That energy was soon shut down by the Broncos’ defensive presence on the court.

“We should’ve came out with more energy, that’s the main thing. Thursday we played really well and came out with intensity, everyone was on 10,” Josh Lavergne said.

The Broncos came into the game taking the lead and making the Wildcats work to get on the scoreboard. Cal Poly left Chico State in the dust within the first seven minutes of the half creating a 12-point lead.

The Wildcats were lagging behind the whole half as they watched the Broncos fiercely break through their defensive efforts.

Chico State let the frustration get the best of them and let Cal Poly completely dominate offensively for the rest of the half. Luckily for the Wildcats, the Broncos struggled to keep the gameplay clean. This offered up some free throws for Chico State that maintained the team scoring.

“I didn’t feel like we executed very well. Defensively, I thought we had our moments when we were good,” Head Coach Greg Clink said.

Despite all of the Wildcat’s efforts, the half ended with a score of 29-15.

“We had a tough time penetrating their defense and didn’t rebound well,” Clink said.

A low scoring half for Chico State put the team on their feet in the second half as they slowly trickled in some points. Pomona was not expecting this and was surprised when they were scoreless for four minutes of the half.

This allowed Chico State to minimize the lead to only seven points but the Broncos were not ready to see all their offensive work go to waste.

As Cal Poly started scoring again, the Wildcat’s defense and offense began to break under the pressure.

Every possession that the Broncos had followed a successful execution but for the Wildcats on the other hand there followed a turnover.

Cal Poly continued expanding their lead as Chico State was not able to stop the dominating offense. By the last three minutes of the half, the Broncos lead by twenty points and the Wildcats knew that there was no point of return. This left the game off on a low note with a final score of 63-44.

Chico State is on the road next weekend to face off California State University, Los Angeles and California State University, Dominguez Hills to redeem themselves from their loss at home.

“It’s going to be a really different game it’s going to be more spaced. So I think we are going to do better next weekend,” Calvin Geraci said.

Lucero Del Rayo can be reached at [email protected] or @del_rayo98 on Twitter.