TURLOCK — Stanislaus State played its best half of a basketball game of the season, in front of the biggest crowd of the year at Fitzpatrick Arena, as the Warriors defeated Chico State, 88-78, on homecoming night.

Kaelen Mitchell tied a career-high in points and three-pointers with 21 points and five treys to lead the Stan State scoring as the Warriors improved to 15-8 overall and 10-7 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association. The Warriors snapped Chico State's seven-game winning streak as the Wildcats (16-6, 13-5 CCAA) were beaten for the first time in more than a month.

Five Warriors scored in double-digits for the second straight Thursday night, making it the fifth time this season they were able to spread the offense in total team effort.

"I am really proud of the way we competed tonight. We matched their physicality and toughness throughout the game," co-head coach Paul Trevor said. "It was a great team effort. I am excited about how this team is playing together."

Vida Faniel scored 18 points on 6 of 9 shooting and was a perfect 4-for-4 from the arch. Ty Davis added 15 points with seven assists while Kyle Gouveia and Xavier Francois each chipped in 12 points. Andy Cleaves nearly made it a six-man double figure game with eight points. He pulled a team-best nine rebounds and had five assists.

Stan State, which also ended a seven-game losing streak against Chico State dating back to December of 2014, was pretty efficient on offense particularly in the second half.

In the second half, the Warriors scored a season-best 54 points by shooting 58.1. They also converted on 14 of 15 free throws. While Chico State maintained a slight lead early in the second half, the Warriors really took the game over halfway through using a 12-0 run to turn a 59-58 deficit into a 70-59 lead. 

Corey Silverstrom, who ended up with 29 points, tried to help the Wildcats stage a comeback, but a couple of key Stan State three-pointers denied Chico. Mitchell drained one of his triples at 5:10 left to keep the large student-body crowd of more than 1,350 loud. Then, Faniel made a three-pointer with 2:53 left to give Stanislaus its biggest lead of the night at 78-66.

An ally-oop slam by Cleaves from Davis at 1:27 left that made it 82-71 sent the crowd into a frenzy.

Mitchell remains on top of his offensive game. In his last four games, he's tallied 60 points on 24 of 45 shooting with 14 three-pointers. He was the team's leading scorer in three of these four games.