The Wildcats men’s basketball team lost their game Thursday night to the Cal State University of Los Angeles by a score of 69-57. With the playoffs nearing and a potential spot for the Wildcats still a possibility the team knew that this game was as close to a must-win scenario as it gets.
Unfortunately for Chico, the Golden Eagles were ready for them. The Wildcat’s offense struggled and couldn’t get the ball movement that they were looking for. The team turned the ball over 25 times and LA capitalized on that as they were able to score 26 points off of turnovers.
The Wildcats hadn’t given the ball away 25 times since January of 2008.
Chico kept the game close in the first half as Kevin Warren, Isaiah Brooks and Malik Duffy were able to contribute offensively and found some early success from behind the three-point line.
The team’s offensive contribution was enough to make it a three-point game at the half.
Cal State Los Angeles finished off the first half strong and started the second half on the right foot as well. The Wildcat’s defense gave up 13 points in just the first few minutes of the third quarter and their offense was stalled as they could only manage to put up four points during that Eagle’s run.
The tone of the game stayed the same throughout as the Wildcats allowed a 25 point run that essentially put them out of the game.
Chico continued to push for the win and even pulled within eight points during the fourth quarter but never got the boost they needed. Time ran out on them as they fell to 9-11 on the season.
The Wildcats shot 46.2 percent from the field during the game but due to the number of times that they surrendered the ball, it was not enough to keep up with the Golden Eagles.
Sophomore guard Kevin Warren led the Wildcats in scoring as he was able to put up 17 total points throughout the game.
Guard Isaiah Brooks also put up eight points on 50 percent shooting.
While this loss certainly doesn’t help Chico’s playoff hopes, the team is still alive and will likely need to win out to secure a tournament berth.
The Wildcats will continue their push against Cal State University Dominguez Hills on Saturday as they travel to Carson. The team will then close out the season with two home games against San Francisco State and Sonoma State at Acker Gymnasium.
Matthew Ferreira can be reached at [email protected] or @MattFerreira_ on Twitter.
