Box Score CHICO -- Two days after suffering a heart-breaking overtime loss, Cal State Dominguez Hills found itself in another overtime battle this afternoon at Chico State.  This time, however, the Toros reversed course and took the overtime win, a 97-92 decision over the Wildcats in which junior Jalen Brown led all scorers for the second-consecutive game with another 23-point effort to give CSUDH its first win of the 2026 calendar year.

The Toros improve to 8-4 overall, and 4-2 in the CCAA.

CSUDH nailed 54.9% of its field goal attempts, and used its overall height advantage to earn 16 more points the paint and tally six blocks to CSUC's two.

David Cheatom scored the Toros' first five points of the game to stake the visitors to an early 5-3 lead, only to have the hosts go on a 13-4 run to take a 16-9 lead at the 15:36 mark of the first half.  A Brown floating jumper and Za-Ontay BOothman layup sandwiched a Chico miss to bring the Toros to within 16-13 two minutes later, before Luke Lin fed Brown for a layup to knot the game at 19-19 at the 10:25 mark.

The teams tied four more times in the final minutes before five points by Chico's Jeremiah Dargan to close the half gave the hosts a 40-36 lead entering the break.

Six quick points to begin the second half courtesy of CSUDH's DaSean Stevens, Josiah Sanders and Cheatom gave the Toros a 42-40 lead, only to have the Wildcats catch the Toros at 45-all with 4:23 elapsed in the frame.

The teams continued to play each other close, splitting the next 30 points to remain tied at the 10:49 mark, this time at 60 apiece.

A Sanders flush gave the Toros a 66-65 lead a minute and a half later, and an old-fashioned 3-point play from JJ Mitchell grew CSUDH's lead to 69-65 with 7:58 remaining in regulation.  

Chico State, however, clawed back, taking an 84-79 lead with just 83 seconds left, until a Cheatom jumper, Wildcat turnover and Stevens layup gave the Toros hope, bringing them back to within 84-83 in a 30-second span.

After another Wildcat turnover, Sanders completed his own 3-point play to give the Toros an 86-84 lead with 14 ticks left, but a Chico jumper with just three seconds left would send the game into overtime.

In the extra frame, the Toros found the formula that eluded them two nights ago, making key buckets and playing lockdown defense as a Cheatom layup with 2:24 left in overtime gave CSUDH the lead for good at 93-92 in the eventual 97-92 win.

Sanders added 22 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the floor, adding a stellar 10-of-12 effort from the charity stripe.  Cheatom and Stevens poured in 17 points each, with Stevens pulling down a game-high eight rebounds.

The Toros return home on Thursday, January 8, to host CCAA newcomer UC Merced, with tip set for 7:30 pm in the Torodome.