The Warriors will take on conference rival Chico State on Saturday, Dec. 29, before flipping the calendar over to the 2013 year. The game, second in the season series, is at 7 p.m. at Fitzpatrick Arena as part of a doubleheader with the women's team.

This Week's Opponent

Chico State WILDCATS (4-3, 1-2 CCAA)
Series Notes: The Warriors are now 25-28 against Chico State in the series. Cal State Stanislaus is now 14-15 in CCAA games against the Wildcats and is 9-5 at home against Chico State during CCAA play.

Last Time We Met... was on Dec. 6, in Chico, when Sam Marcus nailed the game-winner at the buzzer for a 68-66 Stanislaus win. Marcus scored 16 of the team's final 23 points to lead the Warriors with 22 points.

About the Wildcats: Chico State is coming off a 80-52 win over Simpson on Dec. 14. James Staniland leads with 9.1 points per game. Jordan Semple averages 5.7 rebounds per game. The Wildcats is 11th in the CCAA in scoring (65.4 per game).

Media Coverage
Saturday vs. Chico State, 7 p.m.
Over the Air: KEFC 100.5 FM
[Live Audio] [Live Video] [Live Stats]

Offensive Explosion
Cal State Stanislaus hit the century mark for the second time this season on Dec. 17 against Pacifica. The Warriors, proved that it was not a fluke, followed it with 88 points against a strong Cal Baptist team. In the two games at the Coyotes Holiday Classic, the Warriors totalled 204 points on 75-for-147 shooting (51 percent) and made 16 three-pointers (on 35 attempts for 45.7 percent).

Well Rounded Team Depth
The recent offensive out-pour by the Warriors was done with team effort as every active player contributed. Six different players scored in double-digits while four others scored at least eight points in those two games. So far this season, 12 of the 14 Warriors have scored in double figures in a game at least once. Seven different Warriors have led the team in scoring in a contest.

HItting the Long Range Bombs
The Warriors are not shy about taking the three-point shot as the team currently ranks third among all CCAA teams in three-pointer attempts. In the last two games, the Warriors took 37 treys and made 16 of them, including a 11-for-26 game against Pacifica. Currently, the most prolific long-range shooters are Zeke DeBlase (62.5 percent, 5 for 8), Alek Carlson (57.1 percent; he made 5 of 6 against Pacifica) and Clinton Tremelling (50 percent; leads team with 12 made). Marcus Walters also got into the act in the previous game. Against Cal Baptist, he was 4-for-4 (after going 5-for-20 in the first six games) from beyond the arch.

Bench Scoring
The Stanislaus team depth was again on display in the last two games as the Warrior reserves out-scored Pacifica's bench, 54-1, and Cal Baptist's non-starters, 25-8.

Going for Fourth
The Warriors will be going for their fourth straight win on Dec. 29. They have not won four consecutive games since the start of the 2009-10 season.

Sam the Man
Sam Marcus has emerged as one of the best all-around point guards in the conference. After dishing off 17 assists in the last two games, Marcus now ranks second in the CCAA with 4.3 assists per game. Offensively, Marcus is sixth with a 58.5 field goal percentage. His biggest moment came in the last outing against Chico State, when he scored 16 of the team's final 23 points including the game-winning buzzer-beater, to finish with a career-best 22 points.

Rebounding Means Wins
Here's a telling statistic of note. When the Warriors out-rebound their opponents in a game, they win. They are now 4-0 when that happens and are 0-3 when they were out-rebounded. Ray Mitchell is certainly helping in this area as he pulled 10 rebounds in each of the last two contests. He averages 7.1 boards per game, which is sixth best among all CCAA players.

Head Coach Larry Reynolds
Larry Reynolds is in his fourth season as the Warriors' head coach. In his first season, the Warriors went 10-17, the first-10-win season since a 13-16 mark in 2006-07. In three seasons, Reynolds has led the Warriors to the CCAA tournament twice (2010-11, 2011-12). Reynolds came to Cal State Stanislaus after leading Long Beach State to a NCAA tournament appearance in 2006-07 when the 49ers went 24-8. As a Division II coach at Cal State San Bernardino from 1997 to 2002, Reynolds posted a 110-35 overall record. Under Reynolds, CSUSB won three CCAA titles, two regional championships and made four NCAA tournament appearances. Reynolds was named CCAA coach of the year four times and was the west region coach of the year in 1998-99 following the Coyotes' West Region championship.

Fitzpatrick Arena
Warrior Arena was renamed Ed & Bertha Fitzpatrick Arena at the start the 2010-11 season. The arena is named for Ed and Bertha Fitzpatrick, owners of Valley Lexus/Valley BMW in Modesto and other car dealerships in the Bay Area. The Fitzpatricks have been long-time supporters of California State University Stanislaus. The gym has been named Warrior Arena since 1999, 21 years after it was built.

CCAA Basketball Championships
The 2012-13 CCAA Men's & Women's Basketball Championship tournament will be held at the beginning of March. Eight teams qualify for the event with first round games on campus site March 5. The four winners will advance to the semifinals and finals, March 8-9, in Ontario. The winner of the tournament would receive the automatic bid for the NCAA tournament.