CHICO — Joshua Hamilton and Adam Afifi combined for 62 of the Chico State men’s basketball team’s 87 points in the Wildcats’ 87-76 victory against Cal State Monterey Bay on Saturday afternoon in Chico.
The victory gave Chico its sixth straight victory, as the Wildcats improve to improved to 12-2 overall, 7-2 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association and 8-1 at home.
Afifi, a junior transfer from Cal State Northridge, has struggled shooting in his previous five games, but Saturday could not miss early on. In his last five games, he shot a combined 13-35 (37%). Saturday, Afifi shot 7-of-7 from the field, including 3-of-3 from the 3-point line, in the first half and finished 10-of-13 (77%) from the field, 5-of-7 (71.4%) from the 3-point line, as well as 6-of-9 (66.7%) from the free-throw line.
Afifi said he felt that Saturday was his day after he made his first two shots, and his teammates continued to feed him the ball. Afifi’s teammates rose to their feet in celebration after he eclipsed 30 points with two free throws with 6 seconds left in the game.
Afifi finished with a career-high 31 points, adding eight rebounds and three steals.
“To me, it’s just a matter of time. He’s an extremely talented player,” said Chico State coach Greg Clink. “I thought he took extremely good shots tonight, I thought his rhythm was good, and I thought his aggression was good.
“The big thing with him is when he gets aggressive, his defense and his offense are better. I thought he played hard and had a phenomenal performance.”
Hamilton, a senior and captain of the Wildcats, finished with a career high in points as well. Hamilton’s previous career high was 30 points, but with 1:47 left in the second half, Hamilton pump faked, stepped past the defender and made a jump shot in the paint to give himself a new career high of 31 points.
Clink praised his captain Hamilton’s performance Saturday, saying that he is always steady but was explosive Saturday.
“We went to him down the stretch when the game was on the line, and just asked him to make plays,” Clink said.
Sixteen of Hamilton’s 31 points came in the second half, as the senior put his team on his back with bucket after bucket. He finished with five assists as well as three rebounds and two steals.
“Down the stretch, I just don’t want to lose. I hate losing,” Hamilton said. “I’d rather be driving the car than sitting passenger when we lose. I only got so many games left, so I’m just trying help our team to win no matter how it gets done.”
As a team, Chico State combined to shoot 46.2% from the field, but Clink said the thing he is most proud about is the turnover ratio. The Wildcats forced 19 turnovers on defense, while turning it over just eight times on offense.
The Wildcats and Otters battled back and forth throughout. There were six lead changes, all occurring in the first half. A 3-pointer by Afifi gave Chico a 28-24 lead with 7:25 left in the first half, which started an 8-0 run by the Wildcats that increased their lead to 33-24.
The Wildcats took a 43-37 lead into halftime, but the Otters did not give up and went on a run of their own in the second half.
Chico led 61-48 with 12:08 remaining following a jump shot by Hamilton, but the Wildcats went ice cold for the next five minutes as the Otters went on a 12-0 run to trim the Chico lead to 65-63. A 3-pointer by Hamilton and a layup by Kelvin Wright Jr. gave Chico a 70-63 lead with 6:17 left. Hamilton’s sixth 3-pointer with 4:40 left increased Chico’s lead back to 10 points at 75-65, and the Otters did not threaten the Wildcats’ lead after that.
“We’re winning because we’re guarding well,” Clink said. “I feel like we can rely on our defense every single night. Our defense has to be solid every night, and it wasn’t perfect tonight, but we played hard and made big stops down the stretch.”
Chico State now hits the road for back-to-back road games at Cal State Los Angeles on Thursday and Cal State Dominguez Hills on Jan. 20. Both matchups will feature three of the top teams in the CCAA standings. The Wildcats (12-2) and Golden Eagles (12-3) are 7-2 in the CCAA, and Cal State Dominguez Hills is 11-3 and 6-2 in the CCAA. The Toros host Cal State East Bay (10-4, 6-2) at 7:30 p.m. Saturday night.
The Wildcats return home to host Cal State San Marcos at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 25, before hosting Sonoma State at 3 p.m. Jan. 27.
Women win seventh straight
While the Chico State men’s basketball team won its sixth straight, the Wildcats’ women’s team won its seventh straight in a 70-61 victory against Cal State Monterey Bay.
The Otters led 17-11 after the first quarter, but the Wildcats outscored the Otters 27-8 in the second quarter to take a 38-25 lead into halftime.
Zhane Duckett led the Wildcats with 19 points and seven assists, turning the ball over just once. Duckett added five rebounds and one steal. Mackenzi Laporte scored 18 points and grabbed six rebounds, and Jordan Allred had 10 rebounds and four assists. Ashleigh Barr had eight points, a team-high seven rebounds and two blocks.
Chico State (11-4, 7-2 CCAA) will look to make it eight straight victories when it plays Cal State Los Angeles at 5:30 p.m. Thursday. The Wildcats currently sit second in the CCAA standings only behind Cal State San Marcos (11-3, 8-1 CCAA).