The Chicago State men's basketball team earned their first Western Athletic Conference victory since 2018 with a 58-56 win over California Baptist Saturday afternoon at the Jones Convocation Center in Chicago.
Brandon Betson scored all 10 of his points in the second half, including a jumper with under two seconds remaining, to give the Cougars the two-point win.
The victory was Chicago State's first over California Baptist in five meetings dating back to 2019 and was the Cougars first win in WAC play since a 96-82 victory over Kansas City on March 3, 2018. The win snaps a five-game losing streak and the Cougars improve to 4-3 at home this season while improving to 5-12 overall and 1-3 in the WAC. The Lancers drop to 10-4 overall and 0-1 in conference play.
The Cougars had four players in double figures with
Jahsean Corbett leading the way with 13. Ali Dibba had 10 and
Dominique Alexander and Betson had 10 while Corbett also led CSU in rebounding with nine.
The game was tight throughout with 18 lead changes and 14 ties but the Cougars held a slim advantage throughout most of the second half. The largest lead for either team was eight for Chicago State midway through the second half and that was cut in half, five points, with just over two minutes to play. The Lancers scored on three consecutive offensive possessions to tie the game 56-56 with 0:10 remaining to play. Betson received the ensuing inbounds pass and dribbled the length of the court before pulling up with a soft, fadeaway jumper on the left side of the lane for a two-point advantage with 1.5 seconds remaining. The Lancers attempted to inbound the ball to half court but was swatted away by Corbett and landed in the hands of Betson as time expired.
The Lancers opened the scoring with a three and Chicago State countered with an 8-0 run for an early five-point lead behind three-point field goals by Dibba and Alexander. Following a Corbett layup, California Baptist went on an 8-1 run for a two-point lead, 11-9. Dibba converted a layup to knot the score and CBU scored five straight for its largest lead of the game, five points, 16-11, with 10:38 remaining in the first half.
Trailing 19-15, Alexander scored five straight points for the Cougars to re-gain the lead, 20-19. CBU converted an and-1 to go back up two, 22-20, before an 8-3 Cougars run put Chicago State up 28-25.
Favour Chukwukelu and
Bryce Johnson hit threes and Dibba a pair of free throws during the run. CBU scored the last three and the halftime score was 28-28.
Chicago State scored six of the first eight points to start the second half but the Lancers battled back and took their only lead of the second half on a long three by Tre Armstrong, 36-34, with 14:48 to play. The Cougars regained on the lead on their next possession following a three by
Noah Bigirumwami to start an 8-0 run, with Betson scoring his first points of the game and five straight on back-to-back possessions. Tre Armstrong hit a three to stop the Chicago State run but Corbett scored and Betson hit another three and the Cougars had their largest lead of the game, eight points, 47-39, with 10:17 left to play.
Next up for the Cougars will be a Texas road trip to face UTRGV Thursday, Jan. 13 at 7 p.m. then Lamar on Saturday, Jan. 15 at 3 p.m.
About Chicago State
Chicago State University Athletics is comprised of 15 intercollegiate teams involving over 150 student-athletes that compete in basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, tennis, indoor and outdoor track and volleyball. CSU held memberships in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and NCAA Division II before transitioning to NCAA Division I in 1994. Melvin Bland was the first CSU student-athlete to gain NAIA All-American status in 1974 as a wrestler. Fred Evans became the first black swimmer ever to win a national championship in 1975. CSU's women's basketball team earned a spot in the 2011 Women's Basketball Invitational and CSU's men's basketball team won the 2013 Great West Conference Tournament title and made an appearance in the CollegeInside.com Postseason Tournament (CIT). The Men's Outdoor Track & Field 4x100-Meter Relay team were 2019 Honorable Mention All-Americans and WAC Champions. Their feat marked the first time the Chicago State's men's track & field program was represented at the national meet. In 2021, three different CSU teams earned victories over Big Ten opponents with men's soccer beating Northwestern, women's basketball upending Wisconsin and volleyball, which established a school record 17 wins and hosted a post-season volleyball tournament for the first time in program history, swept Indiana in Bloomington.
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