CHICO, Calif. - In a preseason vote, the conference's coaches picked Chico State and Cal Poly Pomona to finish at No. 1 and No. 2 this year.
Friday's showdown between the Wildcats and Broncos proved to be as closely contested as those poll rankings suggest but in the end, CPP stole the show by capturing a 67-64 win to take round one of the regular season series. The result also keeps the Broncos' undefeated records intact at 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA).
The defensives of the two squads ranked within the top 10 nationally last year but Friday's battle played out as more of an offensive shootout for most of the contest. The second half proved to be absolutely epic as it included seven lead changes and seven occasions of a tie score.
The Broncos, ranked 14th nationally, trailed 64-59 with less than four minutes to play but closed out the game in magnificent fashion. The visitors held Chico scoreless through the final three minutes and 38 seconds, putting together an 8-0 run in that stretch before walking off the Art Acker Gym court victorious.
It marked CPP's first win in Chico since Feb. 7, 2009 and offensive rebounding played a key role in the Broncos finishing off the victory. In the final minute, the visitors didn't hit a field goal but a key offensive board from
Mitchel Anderson eventually led to a free throw from
Barry Bell and that kept the Wildcats in desperation mode.
Anderson finished with a team-high 18 points, which included a 4-for-6 effort from beyond the arc. He joined three other Broncos in double figures as
Shannon Sharpe contributed 15 points,
Jordan Faison added a season-high 12 and
Mohamed Fall posted 11 of his own. Sharpe is now 10-for-14 from the field in the last two games.
The Broncos seized the early momentum immediately after the opening tipoff with Bell stealing it away from Chico and turning it over to Anderson for a fastbreak layup on the other end.
That play started a 12-0 run for the visitors, who got four points in that stretch from Sharpe with an Anderson three-pointer also featured. It took more than five minutes for the Wildcats to sink a shot but once they got going, the game quickly shaped into the back-and-forth battle that fans expected.
James Staniland entered the game as a reserve and essentially couldn't miss. He led Chico on a 12-2 run, capping off that spurt with a three-pointer at the 10:02 mark to tie the game at 14-14. Staniland ended up totaling a career-high 24 points Friday.
The two teams stayed relatively close in margin for the remainder of the half. The Broncos' edge pushed to five points on two occasions - first on a
Bryce Brady three-pointer and next on a layup from Faison - but Chico closed the period on an 8-2 run to take a 32-31 lead into the break.
In the second half, neither team managed to push the margin beyond a two-possession spread. A fast-break layup from Drew Kitchens increased Chico's lead to 43-38 at the 15:07 mark but Bell knocked down a three-pointer on the Broncos' next possession to cut the difference back to two.
Faison put together a breakthrough second-half performance for the visitors, scoring 10 of his 12 points in the closing period. The second half featured seven occasions of a tie score, with Anderson delivering one when he hit a deep three-pointer at the 12:49 mark with just one second on the shot clock.
Staniland's sixth and final three-pointer gave the Wildcats a five-point lead at the 3:39 mark but from that point on, the Broncos' defense went into shutdown mode. Fall grabbed a pair of offensive rebounds before dropping in a layup and Sharpe followed with a three-pointer to even the score.
A chaotic play around the 1:45 mark led to a steal for Sharpe, who quickly dished the ball to Anderson for a dunk to take the lead. After Bell knocked down a clutch free throw, the Wildcats had a last-second chance to send the game into overtime but ended up turning the ball over instead as the buzzer sounded.
The Broncos will complete their five-game road swing with a Saturday 7:30 p.m. matchup at Cal State Stanislaus. The Warriors lost to Humboldt State Friday, 70-65.
