Box Score
HAYWARD, Calif. - Despite entering halftime tied at 30-30 with host Cal State East Bay, the Cal Poly Pomona men's basketball team finished the game strong and held off the Pioneers for a 69-60 victory Thursday.
The Broncos will head into a Saturday 7:30 p.m. matchup at UC San Diego with marks of 8-6 overall and 5-5 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association. Playing in front of 1,007 fans at Pioneer Gym Thursday, CSUEB falls to 2-13 overall and 0-11 through conference play.
"We played defense when we needed to in the final stretch," CPP head coach
Greg Kamansky said. "It was a tough hard-fought win and one of those games you've just got to grind out. You could certainly see that our legs were a little shot from Tuesday's battle with San Bernardino."
Six CPP players finished in double figures, as
Kevin Menner led the way with 14 points on 5-for-6 shooting. Overall as a team, the Broncos went 26-for-42 from the field for a 61.9-percent mark.
CPP saw its first-half lead balloon up to eight points on several occasions but the Pioneers closed out the period on a 13-5 run to even the score at 30-30.
CSUEB senior forward Will Freedman stepped up and dropped in a trey just 13 seconds into the second period. Facing that 33-30 deficit, the Broncos responded with a 17-3 stretch that included eight points from
Matt Rosser. The 12 points on the night from Rosser matched his career mark.
The advantage for CPP pushed as high as 14 points, when
Dwayne Fells put in a layup at the 9:12 mark to make the score 57-43. Fells, the Broncos' leading scorer so far this season, ended the night with 11 points and seven rebounds.
Over the next six minutes though, the Pioneers put together a 12-2 run to trim the lead to just four points, 59-55. CPP entered the final minute of regulation with only a 7-for-17 showing at the free throw line but the Broncos knocked down their final six attempts, four coming from Fells and the last two by
Mark Rutledge, to escape with the 69-60 win.
Joining Menner, Rosser and Fells in double figures were Rutledge with 10,
Mitchel Anderson with 10 and
Tobias Jahn with 10.
Despite only registering two points on the night,
Donnelle Booker proved his worth in a lot of different ways as he collected five rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks in a team-high 33 minutes played. He is now just eight blocks away from becoming the Broncos' all-time leader in that category.
Up next for CPP is the Saturday 7:30 p.m. contest at UC San Diego. The Tritons lost a 60-59 decision Thursday to Cal State San Bernardino.
