Tweet

Box Score

POMONA, Calif. – Despite staging a late rally that evened the score with two and a half minutes to play, the Cal Poly Pomona men's basketball team suffered a narrow 64-60 home loss to San Francisco State on Wednesday evening.

Mitchel Anderson scored a career-high 24 points in leading the Broncos back into contention after the home squad fell down by as many as 11 points during the second half.

Also sending the Kellogg Gym crowd into a frenzy at times with his playmaking ability was Donnelle Booker, who totaled a season-high 14 points while adding nine rebounds and two blocks.

A three-pointer from Anderson at the 2:29 mark evened the score at 57-57 but the Gators bounced right back with a successful layup from Ralph Nevarez to take the lead once again. After forcing a turnover, SFSU got a clutch trey from Phoenix O'Rourke to stretch the advantage to five points and essentially put the contest away.

CPP falls to 0-3 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association and 3-4 overall, while SFSU builds its lead in the conference's first place at 4-0 through CCAA action and 6-2 overall.

The Broncos started Wednesday's game well, with Mark Rutledge knocking down a three-pointer 28 seconds into the contest and CPP proceeding to take a 14-6 lead in the early going.

SFSU rallied back to take a lead with seven minutes to play in the first half and the two squads traded points for some time. Dwayne Fells, who earned CCAA Player of the Week recently for his strong performances in Phoenix, Ariz., stayed active on Wednesday in many facets of the game and helped the Broncos take a 30-27 lead into halftime. He ended the night with eight points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

The Gators took charge early in the second period, racing out to a 15-2 run to start the half. Nefi Perdomo excelled in that stretch and finished with 11 points and four steals. Leading the visiting SFSU squad on the night was Marquel Hoskins, who registered 21 points on 9-for-14 shooting.

Although the 52-41 deficit faced by CPP with 8:07 to play in regulation seemed quite daunting, the Broncos charged back to even the contest with the Kellogg Gym crowd getting loud.

Ultimately though, clutch shooting from Nevarez and O'Rourke in the final two minutes lifted the Gators to their fourth conference win.

CPP will return to action Thursday when it hosts Cal State Monterey at 5 p.m. The Otters fell to 4-4 overall and 2-2 in conference play with a 85-50 loss at Cal State San Bernardino on Wednesday.