Box Score | ONTARIO, Calif. - The 22nd-ranked Cal Poly Pomona men's basketball team suffered a 77-73 loss to Chico State in the semifinal round of the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Championships at Ontario's Citizens Business Bank Arena.
It ended CPP's six-game win streak against the Wildcats, who advance into the CCAA title game Saturday against Cal State Stanislaus. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. The Broncos will await the Sunday selection show, which will be streamed on NCAA.com starting at 7 p.m. for the women's bracket and 7:30 p.m. for the men's bracket.
In the latest West Region poll, CPP men's basketball held the No. 2 ranking. In PacWest tournament action, No. 3 Cal Baptist lost to Chaminade. No. 4 Seattle Pacific battles No. 7 Western Washington on Saturday in the GNAC title game. CPP holds an overall mark of 21-6 and Chico moves to 22-6.
Four Broncos finished in double figures in Friday's matchup, including a 17-point effort from senior and Rancho Cucamonga native
DeRonn Scott. With a 6-for-7 showing from the field,
Francois Tchoyi set a career best in points with 14.
Jordan Faison added 14 points of his own while
Chad Haysbert totaled 10.
With the Wildcats leading 72-66 with 1:41 to play, Scott knocked down two key jumpers to pull CPP to within just one point. Chico's Sean Park provided the biggest basket of the contest though, sinking a three-pointer from in front of his team's bench to put the Wildcats up four with just 18 seconds to play.
Both offenses put together strong starts in Friday's semifinal matchup. Faison scored the first basket of the game off a Scott assist but the Wildcats found their rhythm from three-point range, knocking down four triples in the opening 20 minutes.
A three-pointer by Giordano Estrada - one of his two in the first stanza - pushed the Chico advantage to 23-13 at the 11:53 mark. CPP bounced back with a 6-0 run as Tchoyi continued to be a sparkplug for the Broncos' attack.
A native of Cameroon, Tchoyi went 5-for-5 in the first half to net 12 points, more than double his career high. A last-second three from Rashad Parker put the halftime score at 42-39 in favor of the Wildcats.
Scott gave the Broncos' offense a boost in the second half, sinking a three-pointer at the 17-minute mark to put CPP ahead 47-46. Following a big block by Faison a few minutes later,
Quentin Taylor converted a layup on the other end to widen the Broncos' edge to five.
That CPP lead would grow as large as seven points midway through the second half but the Wildcats outplayed the Broncos down the stretch by making a few extra shots. Free throws certainly helped Chico, with the Wildcats going 21-for-24 at the line while CPP posted an 11-for-22 effort there.
