CAL ST. MONTEREY BAY 73, CHICO STATE 72 FINAL BOX SCORE

SCOREBOARD  1  2  OT  FINAL Cal St. Monterey Bay (5-8, 3-7 CCAA)  37  36  73 No. 25 Chico State (11-3, 7-3 CCAA)  37  35  72

TOP PERFORMERS

OTTERS No. STAT No. WILDCATS Alex Fertig Ryan Nitz 15 Points 17 Amir Carraway Greg Anderson 10 Rebounds 8 Amir Carraway Alex Fertig Ryan Nitz 3 Assists 2 3 Players

CHICO, Calif. — An old British military axiom explains that an army can afford to lose every battle, except the last. The Cal State Monterey Bay men's basketball team proved the wisdom of that saying Saturday night, battling for three tries at the game–winner before Alex Fertig (Fresno/Buchanan HS) knocked down a 3–pointer at the buzzer to upend No. 25 Chico State 73–72 in Acker Gym.

The win not only lifts the Otters (5–8, 3–7 CCAA) right back into the CCAA Tournament hunt, but it makes history as CSUMB's first win over a nationally–ranked NCAA Division II opponent. The win also snapped Chico's school–record 17–game home winning streak.

Chico fell to 11–3 and 7–3 with the loss.

Fertig's winner capped a furious 15–2 Otter rally to close the game after Chico had taken its biggest lead at 70–58 with 4:47 remaining. His shot was all the more amazing given that he almost never got the chance to take it.

After a Fertig layup cut the deficit to 72–70 inside of a minute to play, a Devin Murphy (Sacramento/Sierra College) steal gave the Otters the ball back with the shot clock off and their first chance to win or send the game to overtime. After a timeout, the Otters executed Head Coach Rob Bishop's (@Coach_RBishop) play beautifully, but sharp–shooting Ryan Nitz (Rancho Cucamonga/Chaffey College) couldn't get the wide open three to fall.

CSUMB fouled immediately and sent Sean Park, who scored 31 points Friday night against Cal State East Bay, to the line to shoot a 1–and–1. Park missed the front end and Greg Anderson (Murietta/Palomar College) completed his second double–double of the season with his 10th rebound to give the Otters life.

Anderson gave the ball to Murphy, who sprinted coast–to–coast but couldn't get the potential tying layup to fall. A pair of Wildcat defenders fought for the rebound and knocked it to the corner, where Fertig, tracked it down, spun and nailed the 3–pointer as the buzzer sounded to spark the Otter dogpile.

Winning via a 3–ball was doubly ironic given both teams effort from long range throughout the game. Chico lived from distance, out–scoring CSUMB 36–6 from beyond the arc through the first 39:59 of regulation. Chico made an Otter opponent season–high 12 threes while the Otters shot a season low 13.3 percent (2–of–15) from beyond the arc before Fertig's heroics.

Fertig and Nitz led five Otters in double figures with 15 points apiece. Anderson added 14 points as part of his double–double.

Also of note, the Otters set a school–record low by committing just six turnovers. That breaks the previous low of seven set twice, last in a 73–69 win over Cal State L.A. on Feb. 12, 2011.

The Otters return home to host San Francisco State Friday night (Jan. 24) in The Kelp Bed. They'll close their brief 2–game homestand Saturday night against Sonoma State.