CPP Staff Photographer Tom Zasadzinski
Dwayne Fells (31) went 5-for-6 from the free throw line Friday.
Box Score
CARSON, Calif. – The No. 1 Cal Poly Pomona men's basketball team suffered an overtime loss Friday on the road at 15th-ranked Cal State Dominguez Hills, 59-54.
The Broncos fall to 1-1 overall and 0-1 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association, while the Toros improve to 6-0 overall and 2-0 through league play.
The game featured a defensive struggle, with CPP shooting 35.4 percent and CSUDH firing at a 32.1-percent flip. The final five minutes of regulation included just two successful field goals – the first coming from Tobias Jahn to put the Broncos up 51-49 with 47 seconds left. Then, the Toros' James Cawthorne hit a jumper to even the score at 51-51 with 17 ticks remaining.
A CPP turnover gave CSUDH the ball back with four seconds to go but a three-point attempt from Tim McLaurin missed and the game moved into overtime.
Jahn tallied CPP's first three points of the extra period, including a free throw that tied the game 54-54 heading into the final minute.
A three-pointer from Robert Willhite proved to be the clinching bucket for the Toros with 32 seconds to play in overtime. An attempt beyond the arc from Mitchel Anderson didn't fall and the Broncos were forced to foul in the final moments.
The closing stages of the contest tested the teams' free-throw abilities and for CPP, Matt Rosser and Dwayne Fells shined in that category, going 6-for-6 and 5-for-6 from the line respectively.
Anderson and Jahn led CPP with 14 points apiece, while both Jahn and Donnelle Booker pulled down seven rebounds to pace the Broncos there.
The visitors took a 31-16 lead into intermission while limiting CSUDH's attack tremendously in the first half. In fact, three players, McLaurin, Willhite and Marcquintice Davis, accounted for 15 of the Toros' 16 points. CSUDH went 4-for-22 from the field during the first 20 minutes of the game.
Zareh Zargaryan then found some offensive rhythm off the bench for CSUDH out of the break, scoring all 10 of the Toros' points between the 14:59 and 11:35 marks in the second half. Zargaryan's efforts helped CSUDH trim CPP's lead to seven for the first time in roughly 15 minutes of game action.
The Toros continued to chip away, with McLaurin knocking down a three-pointer to cut the lead to 41-39 at 8:40 and then he followed that with a layup to tie the game at 41. It marked the first deadlock since the 15:55 mark in the first half. The two teams traded shots as the seesaw nature of the game continued late into regulation and then in overtime.
The Broncos will return to action Saturday with a 7:30 p.m. contest at Cal State L.A. The Golden Eagles pulled out a thrilling 59-57 victory over Cal State San Bernardino on Friday. The win pushed CSULA's record to 4-1 overall and 1-1 in the CCAA.
