BOX SCORE
LA JOLLA, Calif.-  As heartbreaking losses go, this one takes the cake.  Despite leading for almost the entire second half, Sonoma State could only watch as Damario Sims drained a long-range jumper at the buzzer to give Chico State a 76-74 win in the semifinals of the CCAA Championship Tournament at RIMAC Arena in La Jolla.  The Wildcats scored five points in the final 12 seconds to steal the victory and advance to Saturday night's final.  The Seawolves, ranked ninth in this week's regional poll, will need some luck to avoid seeing their season end with a 17-11 record.

Following the game, head coach Pat Fuscaldo heaped praise on both his team and his opponent, "I thought it was a good game.  It was up and down...they kept coming back.  They made two incredible plays at the end of the game to win it.  I thought our guys hung in there and showed great character and grit, but they made a shot."

Friday afternoon's contest was nip and tuck from the get-go.  In fact, through the first 15 minutes, no team would take a lead of more than three points.  That changed when Justin Herold scored on an assist from Will Olsem to make it 26-22 Sonoma.  The Seawolves would eventually extend the lead to seven before Chico's Jordan Barton scored with less than two seconds left to make it 35-30 at the half. 

While the first half went back and forth, featuring ten ties and eight lead changes, the Seawolves would lead for most of the second half.  With 4:23 remaining, Sterling Arterberry nailed a jumper to make it 66-57, representing what would be the largest lead of the game.

Over the next minute and a half, the Wildcats would cut the lead down to two, on five straight points by Jason Conrad and a jumper by Jay Flores. The teams would trade buckets, until, with 35 seconds left, Steven Pratt was fouled.  The senior made both to put the Sonoma lead at four, 72-68 with 35 seconds left.

On the next possession, Jordan Semple would be fouled in the act of sinking a layup.  His ensuing free throw cut the lead back to one, 72-71 with 24 seconds left. 

While it's hard to fault the Seawolves in scoring another basket, they might have done it too fast, as just four seconds later, Herold threw down a Patrick Scott alley-oop to make it 74-71.

This gave Chico State lots of time to set up a shot.  Despite the fact that they had struggled from long range all afternoon, when it mattered most, they came through as Amir Carraway sank a trey to tie the game with 12 seconds left. 

The Seawolves had the ball and 12 seconds to do something with it, but as Pratt dribbled out to the left wing with seven seconds left, Flores snuck up behind him, popped the ball out and then intitiated the game-winning drive.  His dish to Damario Sims with one second left resulted in a perfect shot and a perfect ending for the Wildcats. 

While the loss was hard on all Seawolves, it will undoubtedly be toughest on three seniors (Pratt, Ashley Arnott and #Andy Shannon) who, in all likelihood, have played their last game in an SSU uniform.

Pratt tied for game-high honors with 19 points.  He also grabbed eight rebounds and dished out three assists.  Arterberry was big, especially in the first half, as he scored 16 and Herold, the conference newcomer of the year, finished with 18 points and seven boards. 

The Seawolves shot 50.9% from the field, well above the 39.7% turned in by the Wildcats.  They also outshot them from the free throw line and held Chico to just 24% shooting from beyond the arc. 

Carraway finished with 19 points and Jordan Semple (17 points, 14 rebounds) had a huge impact off the bench.  Flores, the conference most valuable player, had ten points and seven assists.

While the Seawolves may very well have played their last game of the season, they will find out for sure on Sunday when the NCAA Tournament field is announced, Sunday at 7:30 pm.