BOX SCORE CHICO, Calif. -- Trailing for the majority of the contest, Sonoma State spearheaded a 9-0 run to take a 59-55 lead with under two minutes left in the second half, and thanks to tough defense and made free throws down the stretch, the Seawolves held on for the exciting 62-59 victory over host Chico State in front of 1,684 fans at Acker Gymnasium on Friday in Chico.  Sonoma State has won seven of its last nine games to move above .500 at 9-8 overall and 7-6 in the CCAA, remaining just two games out of first place in the standings.  Chico State falls to 14-5 overall and 8-5 in the conference. 

The Seawolves have defeated the Wildcats for the 19th time in the last 23 matchups between the two squads.

After Will Olsem's career night last Saturday, it was a known fact that Chico State wouldn't let that happen to them.  Enter Jason Walter, Sterling Arterberry, Steven Pratt, Andy Shannon, Brian Crow, Justin Herold, Patrick Scott and Ashley Arnott.  Olsem, who played all 33 minutes with a defender, or two, in his face, still scored nine points, hitting one of the two three-pointers that he attempted.  It was also the play of the other eight guys that saw the floor on Friday night that kept the Seawolves within striking distance.

At the 6:31 mark of the second half, Sonoma struck.

Down 55-50, Walter, who came off the bench and led the Seawolves with just 10 points, scored five of them on consecutive possessions, knotting the game at 55-55.  A dunk by Herold and a pair of free throws by Pratt put the visitors up four (59-55) with 1:59 left.  From then on, the game turned to the free throw line.  Chico's Amir Carraway hit a pair, Arterberry then hit two to put the lead back up to four, but the Wildcats' Damario Sims cut the lead again to just two at 61-59 with 1:01 left.

On Sonoma State's next possession, the Seawolves controlled the ball throughout the duration of the 35-second shot clock, but a three-point attempt by Crow would bounce off the iron and Chico State grabbed the rebound, called timeout and would hold possession with 17 seconds left on the game clock.  However, nine seconds later, Pratt stole the ball and got it to Herold.  Herold was fouled and went to the line, only to hit the second of two shots.

Down three with eight seconds left, Chico State again called timeout to draw up its last-second play.  The Wildcats called Sims' name, but his buzzer-beating, three-point attempt banged off the rim and the Seawolves escaped with the nailbiting 62-59 win.  When all was said and done, SSU didn't allow Chico State a field goal in the final 6:44 of the game.

It was an all-around team effort.  The Seawolves shot 43.2 percent (19-44) as a team, including 52.6 percent (10-19) in the final half, while going 4 of 10 from beyond the three-point arc.  Walter's 10 points was complemented by a trio of players (Arterberry, Olsem and Pratt) with nine points.  Arterberry led all players with eight rebounds to go along with five assists, matching Pratt's assist total for the game.  Shannon came off the bench to chip in with eight points, followed by the seven points of Crow, six points from Herold and four points from Scott.

As Olsem was held to nine points (and only one three-pointer), he made his presence even more known on defense, as he took six charges on the night, and with one steal, he was directly responsible for seven of the 13 Chico State turnovers on Friday.

Chico State led by as much as eight points on three occasions, the last coming at the 16:16 mark of the second half.  As a team, the WIldcats shot 40.7 percent (22-54) from the floor, including a dismal 14.3 percent on 3 of 21 from three-point range.  Sims recorded team-highs of 18 points, five assists and five rebounds and Carraway added 10 points.

Sonoma State, which sits in seventh place in the CCAA standings, still remains just two games out of first place, trailing four teams with 9-4 records (Humboldt State, Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State Dominguez Hills, Cal State San Bernardino) and two teams with 8-5 marks (Chico State, Cal State L.A.) in conference play.  The Seawolves will now head south to Turlock to face Cal State Stanislaus, which lost in double-overtime to Humboldt State on Friday night.  Tip off from Fitzpatrick Arena is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

Following Saturday's game, the Seawolves will return home for six of their last eight games in the regular season, starting with a Feb. 2 matchup with Cal State Monterey Bay.