CHICO, Calif. -  In front of a near-capacity crowd at Art Acker Gymnasium on Saturday night, the Cal Poly Pomona men's basketball team suffered a 60-52 loss to Chico State. It was a battle of first-place squads as both the Broncos and Wildcats entered with a 12-3 conference record.
 
Leading the way for the CPP offense was Terrence Drisdom, who scored 16 points as one of three Broncos in double figures. Daniel Rodriguez and Jordan Faison totaled 11 points apiece while Drisdom and Barry Bell played well defensively for CPP as they collected four steals each.
 
The loss drops the Broncos into second place in the conference standings at 12-4 in the CCAA while holding an overall mark of 16-5. Chico holds sole possession of first at 13-3 in the CCAA. 

Coming out of the gate, both teams performed as expected with first place on the line. Neither squad gained more than a one-possession advantage through 14 minutes of play. The first points recorded in the game were a three-pointer from Rodriguez.
 
The home team went on a 10-point run that left the Broncos playing catchup. With their crowd cheering them on, the Wildcats provided a few more baskets to take a nine-point edge into halftime.
 
The second period is when the Broncos found their stride, kicking off the scoring with back-to-back layups to climb right back into the game. With an 8-2 run and CPP building momentum, the visitors were just three back with 17 to play.
 
The Wildcats pushed back and by the time the first media timeout rolled around, they were once again leading CPP by nine points. Chico continued to find the answer to the Broncos' quick rallies and pulled out the eight-point win to rise above CPP in the standings.
 
The Broncos will return to action Friday when they head to Sonoma State to take on the Seawolves.