The Warriors gave up two big leads in the second half against Chico State Wednesday night, but senior guard Duane Jones made three clutch free throws in the final 14 seconds to seal an 86-82 win in both teams' California Collegiate Athletic Association opener.

Senior Scott Behrs had a career night coming off the bench with 17 points. Behrs was lights-out from the 3-point line, going 5-8 and keeping the Warriors in the game when it was close. It was Behrs' first game back after sitting out Saturday's final of the County Bank Classic.

"It felt great to be with my team and get a great W," Behrs said. "They were missing me and Terry (Johnson) on Saturday and that had to hurt a little bit, and we were both back so I felt like it was time to pick it up."

After jumping ahead 5-0 to open the game, Chico State went on an 11-0 run to go up by six. The Warriors would later settle down and get back into the game. A 3-pointer by Behrs put the Warriors within one, 17-16, and another trey one minute later gave the Warriors a five-point lead, 22-17.

"I thought he had the best situation with the guy that was guarding him," Warrior head coach Keith Larsen said about Behrs.

A 15-2 run to close the half gave the Warriors 17-point lead at the break, 50-33, their biggest halftime advantage of the season. Much of that can be contributed to other career highs achieved Wednesday, including Jones' nine assists to go along with his eight points.

Sophomore guard Calvin Westbrook had six assists, a career high, in addition to 15 points. He was 3-6 from beyond the arc. Senior forward Heath Colvin surpassed his season high of 21 points with 22. He also had four rebounds and two assists.

Chico came storming back in the second half and in a matter of four minutes the Warriors' lead was down to six. The Warriors shot 41.4 percent in the second half to Chico State's 55.9 percent. For the game, the Wildcats out-shot Cal State Stanislaus 52.5 percent to 45 percent.

"That's who they are," Larsen said. "The good and the bad about losing that lead is that 3/4 of every team that lose a 17-point lead have no chance of coming back. Not this team."

The Warriors would build the lead back up to 15 points at 77-62 when the Wildcat shooters went cold. During a two minute streak in the middle of the half, the Warriors went 7-8 from the field while Chico State shot just 2-7.

The Wildcats went on a late 15-2 run of their own and made it a 3-point game with just over three minutes to play.

"I thought our defensive intensity was non-existent in the second half," Larsen said.

Jones stepped up and hit three of four free throws in the final seconds to seal the win for the Warriors, the team's fourth consecutive against the Wildcats and fifth in the last six.

"It seems like every game it's close in the end," said senior forward Rick Cardoso, who finished with 12 points and five rebounds. "I knew the way Scott and Heath were playing, and our point guard Duane Jones played well, we were able to close it out."

The Warriors are now 2-3 overall and 1-0 in the CCAA. They  travel to La Jolla on Friday to play UC San Diego at 7:30 p.m. The next home game for the men will be on Jan. 4 against San Francisco State.