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The No. 6 seed Chico State held off a late charge by No. 3 seed San Francisco State to earn a 74-71 win and advance to the semifinals of the 2023 CCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.
Evan Oliver led the Wildcats with 20 points in just 25 minutes off the bench. Chico State also got 16 points from Joshua Hamilton, 11 from Jojo Murphy, and eight points apiece from Justin Vigil and Miles Daniels. Toby Okwuokei led SF State with 24 points, and Jalen Flanagan chipped in with 15.
Chico State held a two-point halftime lead (34-32) and pushed it to 10 points with a 13-5 run out of the break. The Gators put together a run of their own and cut the deficit back to three points with 7:22 to go, but they could never find the basket to tie the game. Five times in the final 97 seconds, SFSU scored to trail by just one basket, but each time Chico State had the answer on offense.
Joshua Hamilton hit a 3-pointer with 40 seconds left, then he paired with Evan Oliver to go 6-for-6 from the free throw line in the last 17 seconds to close out the victory.
The Wildcats' bench outscored the Gators 25-9, and Chico State won the turnover battle 23-11.
Chico State will advance to the semifinals of the CCAA Basketball Championship, where it will face the No. 2 seed Cal State San Marcos on Friday, March 3, at Noon.