POMONA - The No. 21 Cal Poly Pomona men's basketball team fell behind by double figures late in the first half and was unable to make up the difference in the second in falling to eighth-ranked Northern rival Chico State, 74-64, in a key California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) matchup inside Kellogg Arena on Saturday night.

As a result of its first home loss of the 2021-22 campaign, CPP drops to 5-2 overall and 1-2 in the CCAA. Preseason CCAA favorite Chico State remains perfect on the year at 7-0 overall and 3-0 in league play.

Redshirt freshman Christopher Mitchell tallied the home side's first points of the contest with a three-pointer for a 3-2 early edge. The Wildcats wasted little time in notching their first triple of the night after pouring in a school-record 19 of them on 30 attempts in a 99-90 triumph at No. 11 Cal State San Bernardino on Thursday afternoon, with Joshua Hamilton hitting from long range for a 5-3 lead.

The game was tied at 5-5, 7-7, 9-9 and 11-11. Sophomore Tay Aubry-Thomas came off the bench to score back-to-back Bronco buckets, the latter a Mitchell-assisted dunk, for a brief 11-9 edge. The 'Cats scored the next eight and led 17-13 at the under-eight timeout.

Back-to-back Malik Duffy three-pointers later gave the guests their first double-digit advantage at 25-15 with 5:39 to go in the half, and Kelvin Wright Jr. extended the run to 8-0 with a basket in the paint. Though four free throws in succession by CPP narrowed the gap, the margin hovered around 10 for the remaining four minutes and through a late Brennan Wheeler three, settled on 13 over the interval at 36-23.

Both teams started out the second half on fire and made each of their first three shots. CPP got a jumper from Phoenix Shackelford and then three-pointers by Dane Erikstrup and Shackelford. Chico State countered with triples by Duffy and Isaiah Brooks around a Hamilton layup, leaving the margin intact at 13, 44-31.

The Bronco deficit went back and forth between 11 and 13 points over the next four minutes, before finally bumping up to 15 at 52-37 with 12:55 to go on a Wright layup. It was still a 15-point game when Hamilton drilled a three, assisted by Wright, at the 6:56 mark.

CPP made one final run at it from there as Tavian Henderson rebounded his own miss and got the putback down low, and Mitchell completed a three-point play to make it 59-49 with six minutes left.

Following a pair of Brooks free throws, back-to-back Shackelford jumpers, the first one after his own steal, pulled the deficit down to single digits at 61-53 with 4:36 to go. The Broncos then had a chance to inch closer as Mitchell got his hands on a steal, too, but his three-point attempt went awry ahead of the under-four media timeout.

Coming out of that stoppage, Colby Orr hit a huge triple, with Henderson producing a dunk on the end but missing the and-one free throw. Duffy split two free throws prior to a Mitchell basket and another another Chico State turnover, but that was as far as the comeback attempt would go, as the Wildcats closed it out at the free throw line.

Shackelford and Henderson produced 20 points and 11 rebounds, respectively. Shackelford shot 9-of-13 from the floor, while his fellow senior scored six points. Mitchell added a season-high 18 points, with Erikstrup collecting a season-high 14 points to go along with three boards, two steals, and a pair of blocks that came over the first 2:31.

Hamilton wound up with 20 points to share the game high with Shackelford, and Duffy joined him in double figures with 14, knocking down three triples to lead all players. Wright had eight points, eight rebounds, four assists, two blocks and two steals.

Cal Poly Pomona is idle in the week ahead and returns to the court up in the Bay Area at Cal State East Bay on Thursday night, Dec. 16. Tipoff inside Pioneer Gymnasium in Hayward is slated for 7:30 p.m., after the women's game at 5:30 p.m.

All CCAA basketball contests throughout this 2021-22 season will stream live online via the CCAA Network at www.ccaanetwork.com. Fans may also download the CCAA Network app on your iOS or Android smartphone, tablet, or through web streaming devices such as Amazon Fire, Roku or Apple TV. The broadcasts are free of charge through the remainder of the 2021 calendar year.

Bronco Bits: Cal Poly Pomona is 422-168 (.715) overall and 310-121 (.719) in CCAA play under 22nd-year head coach and record five-time CCAA Coach of the Year Greg Kamansky ... The Broncos' starting five consisted of seniors Tavian Henderson and Phoenix Shackelford, redshirt freshman Christopher Mitchell, and true freshmen Dane Erikstrup and Jaden Winfield, for the seventh game in a row to begin the season ... True freshman Caleb Nelson's string of seven made three-pointers in a row was snapped with a miss on his first attempt Saturday ... Shackelford reached the 20-point mark for the sixth time in his career and fourth this season ... Henderson reached double figures in rebounds for the fifth time as a collegian, and second as a Bronco, both coming this year ... The Broncos are 4-1 at home in 2021-22 ... Chico State is 3-0 inside Kellogg Arena this season, having opened its campaign there with wins last month over Azusa Pacific and then-21st-ranked Seattle Pacific during the Conference Crossover Challenge ... CPP leads 37-23 in the all-time series that dates back to 1959-60 (18-9 in Pomona since 1970-71), with four straight wins entering Saturday, including a three-game season sweep in 2019-20 ... The Broncos are 31-15 against the Wildcats under Kamansky (14-7 at home) ... CPP is 119-59 all-time as a nationally-ranked squad (58-19 at home) ... Under Kamansky, the Broncos are 3-10 in games involving two nationally-ranked teams, and 26-29 against ranked foes (14-9 at home; 1-2 this season) ... In the CCAA preseason coaches' poll, CPP was picked to place third with one first-place vote, and Chico State was favored to take the title with seven first-place nods ... The sides will meet again in Chico on Thursday, Feb. 3, at 7:30 p.m. ... Milestone Watch: Shackelford has 934 career points and BJ Standley is at 900 points (581 at Saint Martin's) ... Henderson has 466 rebounds (311 at Saint Martin's).