CHICO, Calif. - Cal Poly Pomona surged to a 20-point lead midway through the second half and hung on for dear life to take a thriller over Chico State, 69-67, in California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) men's basketball action at Acker Gym on Saturday night.
 
With a season-best fifth-straight victory, Cal Poly Pomona improved to 7-2 overall and 3-1 in the CCAA. The Broncos are tied atop the conference standings. Chico State fell to 6-3 overall and an even 2-2 in league play. Both teams had ironically entered the day with identical marks and four-game win streaks. The Wildcats were coming off an 81-73 road upset at fourth-ranked and previously-undefeated preseason favorite UC San Diego on Thursday night.
 
For the third contest in a row, Cal Poly Pomona did not trail, and has been behind just a total of 41 seconds of clock time over its last four and a half games. CPP remains a perfect 4-0 in true road dates.
 
The Broncos saw their large advantage shaved down to just two at 69-67 as Colby Orr found Justin Briggs in the lane for a dunk at the 1:23 mark. CPP came up empty on two shots on its next possession, as Chico State grabbed the rebound and called timeout with 22 ticks left. Orr drove baseline and tried to pass out toward the top of the key, but senior William Christmas picked it off and was immediately fouled with eight seconds to go. He missed the front end of the one-and-one, however, before Briggs grabbed the rebound and gave it to Orr, who dribbled toward the left wing and had his three-pointer fall short as the buzzer sounded.
 
At the very start of the evening, Cal Poly Pomona jumped out to a 6-0 advantage by making its first three shots while the hosts missed their first three and were forced to call an early timeout at 18:09. The Bronco baskets came from Riley Schaefer, Christmas and a third senior, Nikhil Peters.
 
Peters answered a Chico State free throw with a three-pointer, but the Wildcats caught up at 11-11. Mason Dickerson responded with a triple of his own. Tied again at 14-14, it was BJ Standley from deep for 17-14. The Broncos continued to use the long ball to keep the 'Cats at bay, as within moments, Schaefer made it 20-16. That ignited a 9-0 run for the visitors, who led by as many as 12, and took that margin into the break, up 34-22. The only tie scores all night were at 11-11 and 14-14.
 
In the second half, a pretty move in the paint by Christmas resulted in a bucket and a 40-24 lead for CPP. Senior Justin Young dunked and was fouled moments later, and despite missing the free throw, provided a 42-28 advantage. A banked-in triple by Phoenix Shackelford coming out of the under-16 media timeout, made it 45-30.
 
The Broncos pounded away as Christmas reached the 10-point mark while giving his team its largest lead to that point at 53-35. After a missed three by Chico State, Schaefer grabbed the rebound and Standley threw up an alley-oop for fellow junior Tavian Henderson to dunk down for the 20-point bulge at 55-35.
 
Chico State scored the next 10 on five-for-five free throw shooting, a Briggs bucket and a banked Kevin Warren three-pointer, but Christmas settled the nerves momentarily by nailing a triple of his own for a 58-45 score at the under-eight break. Standley answered two more Wildcat free throws with a three-point play.
 
After a Young dunk made it 67-51, everything began to go the 'Cats' way. Malik Duffy hit a three, and after a turnover, Calvin Geraci completed a three-point play. Again, Cal Poly Pomona turned the ball over, and Warren knocked down a three-pointer. An empty Bronco possession preceded another Wildcat trey, this one by Joshua Hamilton, with one more turnover leading into a Warren layup and CPP timeout.
 
Coming out of that, Duffy fouled Christmas, who made both free throws for a 69-65 edge at 1:43 and brought about the dramatic finale.
 
Christmas and Schaefer shared the game high with 15 points apiece to lead a balanced Bronco scoring effort. Young contributed 10 despite being in foul trouble. Peters and Shackelford each had seven. Christmas added four rebounds and four assists, while Standley came up with six points and four assists, and Shackelford got his hands to a four steals. Schaefer's six rebounds tied for the game high.
 
Cal Poly Pomona forced 11 turnovers in the first half and 18 for the game from a team in Chico State averaging just 13 per outing.
 
Warren paced Chico State with 15 points, going a perfect 3-for-3 from long range. Spencer LaShells collected 13 points, six rebounds and two steals. The Wildcats shot 88.5 percent (23-26) from the line, while CPP took six free throws, making three.
 
Cal Poly Pomona is idle in the week ahead for final exams. The Broncos will return to action with a pair of CCAA home tilts at Kellogg Arena on Thursday, Dec. 19, against Cal State San Marcos at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Dec. 22, versus No. 4 UC San Diego at 3:30 p.m. Both contests will cap doubleheaders with the CPP women. Home games are free to view on the CCAA Network, either online (ccaanetwork.com), or by downloading the channel on Roku, Apple TV or Amazon Fire TV.
 
Bronco Bits: Cal Poly Pomona started with the same lineup for the ninth game in a row to open the season, of fourth-year seniors William Christmas, Nikhil Peters, Riley Schaefer and Justin Young, and junior Phoenix Shackelford ... Christmas has started 56 games in a row and appeared in the last 79 ... Young has played in each of the past 84 contests ... Over the first nine games, Christmas has had at least a share of both the team and game high in points in six ... Having achieved career win No. 400 on Thursday night, 20th-year CPP head coach Greg Kamansky is closing in on another milestone of 300 CCAA wins, currently at 295 ... These teams split two meetings in each of the past two years ... Both sides won on the road last season, with the Broncos leaving Chico with a 63-44 decision back on Feb. 16 ... The Broncos boast the longest current win streak in the CCAA, at five in a row ... Prior to Thursday, the last time CPP put five players in double-figure scoring was in the 102-99 quadruple-overtime triumph over Cal State LA in last year's CCAA Tournament semifinals in Hayward on March 8 ... Thursday was the first time that five Broncos reached double figures in a regulation contest, since six did so in an 86-60 victory at Cal State Monterey Bay on Jan. 27, 2018 ... Cal Poly Pomona held a winning margin of 128 points (32.0 average) over the previous four games ... Before the prior three games, the Broncos last had three-consecutive 20-plus-point wins Dec. 1-15, 2012 (63-43 at Cal State Stanislaus, 66-44 vs. Bethesda and 69-47 vs. Humboldt State).