CHICO, CALIF. – On Saturday, January 27th, the Sonoma State men's basketball team put together a herculean effort against conference rival Chico State but fell on a go-ahead layup from the Wildcats with seven seconds remaining.
James Nobles was able to get the inbound and push the floor to get a midrange jumper off, but it would rattle in-and-out as time expired, handing the Seawolves the devastating two-point defeat.
FIRST HALF SSU 35-29 CHICO
Sonoma State got off to another terrific start, shooting 4-5 from the field and jumping out to a 9-0 lead over Chico State.
Rich Shayewitz and his group showed up ready to go as they were attacking the rim at will and had great off ball movement to create quality looks inside. SSU led by as many as 15 and finished the half shooting over 60% from the field. They went on to hold the Wildcats to just nine made field goals on 30% shooting.
Chico State would hang around though as expected, closing the half on a massive 14-6 run with a pair of three balls to cut the lead to just six at the break.
FINAL SSU 67-69 CHICO
Just five minutes into the second half,
Julian Bryant would convert a layup inside to extend the lead to double digits once again for SSU. However, Chico State would answer with a 6-1 run to bring the deficit back to single digits where it would stay for the remainder of the night.
The Wildcats slowly but surely chipped away at the deficit until taking their first lead of the game under five minutes to go off of a step back three ball. They would extend their lead to four with two and a half to play but
Andrew Henderson would respond with a driving layup plus the foul to come within one.
The energy of the Seawolves bench and crowd continued to build within the final minutes of the game and huge playoff implications on the line. Both teams would trade empty possessions, giving the ball back to Sonoma State with just over a minute to play. SSU would work the shot clock down and get a good look from Nobles in the corner that would just rattle in-and-out but
Dillon Iyawe would grab a huge offensive board to give the Seawolves another look at the lead.
Iyawe would kick to Miller and Miller would send a cross-court pass to Barry on the right wing. Barry would pump fake and side step to his left to knock down what felt like a dagger three right in front of Sonoma State's bench with 50 seconds remaining.
The Wildcats would come back down the floor quickly and draw a shooting foul inside, going on to hit both free throws to tie the game at 67 a piece. After a timeout from Shayewitz, Miller would inbound the ball to Henderson who found a slipping Terrence Haywood into the paint. Haywood would catch the feed and go straight up to convert the layup but a helping Wildcats defender would slide in and take a charge to force the turnover with 30 seconds remaining.
Chico State would wind the clock all the way down and their point guard would take Miller into the paint for a layup that would fall off the front rim, but a crashing rebounder would convert the put back and put the Wildcats up two with seven seconds remaining. Nobles would get the inbound and race up the floor to get a decent mid-range jumper off but that too would rattle in-and-out as time expired. The Seawolves put together one of their best overall performances of the season but would come up just short in a crazy finish, 67-69.
SSU would finish the night shooting 56% from the field, their second highest mark of the season, but were just 4-17 from beyond the arc and committed 23 turnovers. Chico State took advantage with 25 points off of those turnovers and also hit seven three pointers in the second half to propel themselves back in the game.
Henderson led the way with another double-double, finishing with 16 points and 11 rebounds. The rest of the scoring for the Seawolves was well distributed with seven players scoring five or more points. With nine games left in the regular season, Sonoma State will have their work cut out for them but still have a chance to rattle off some wins and earn a postseason spot. They will return home for four straight games starting next week.
LOOKING AHEAD
Sonoma State falls to 9-10 overall and 5-8 in conference play, the first time this season they've fallen below .500 overall. They'll start a four game home stand next week against Cal State San Bernardino on Thursday, February 1st. Tickets can be bought online at sonomaseawolves.com/tickets and you can stream the game LIVE on the CCAA Network.
Be sure to follow your Seawolves on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to get all the latest SSU athletics updates and information. Sonoma State athletics also has launched a new fan app in partnership with From Now On. Download the free app today in both the Apple and Google Play stores by searching Sonoma State Seawolves in the app store. @SonomaSeawolves | #NomaNation
