The Warriors parlayed a huge second half run and dominated Chico State en route to another thriller in this rivalry as Cal State Stanislaus edged the Wildcats, 62-60, in overtime on Saturday.
Chris Read's bucket with six seconds left in overtime was the game-winner as Cal State Stanislaus evened the head-to-head series with the key early-season victory on the road. The Warriors avenged the Dec. 13 loss to Chico State in Turlock to improve to 6-3 overall and 3-1 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association.
After a dismal first half, the Warriors outscored Chico State 39-26 in the second half to forge the win.
Read finish with 15 points to lead the Warriors with Alek Carlson chipping in nine points with Richie Medina scored eight points off the bench. Wes Bartole led the team with eight rebounds and Rob Walters pulled seven boards.
Chico State (also 6-3, 3-1 CCAA) was led by Robert Duncan's 15 points. Jordan Semple had 10 points and seven rebounds before fouling out late in the second half.
The contest eventually turned out to be a tale of two completely different halves that had to be decided in the extra period.
Cal State Stanislaus was shutout in the first 9-plus minutes of the game and trailed 11-0 before a Kyle Gouveia free throw netting the Warriors their first point at 11:19. Chico State led 19-1 before Stanislaus' second point. It was 33-17 by the time halftime came around.
"We just weren't playing with any flow and our shots weren't getting in," Carlson said in a postgame interview. "They are packing the paint on us and we just weren't hitting our shots."
But the Warriors responded in the second half with a couple of big runs. A 16-6 run early got them back in the game before a 29-5 spurt that flipped the game around with Stanislaus leading, 50-45, at 5:23 on a Medina three-pointer.
Still, Chico State didn't go away even with a five-point Stanislaus lead in the final seconds. A Robert Duncan layup followed by a Duncan steal and a Drew Kitchen layup with less than four seconds left to play sent the game into overtime.
