Box Score
ARCATA, Calif. – The Cal Poly Pomona men's basketball team came close to handing first-place Humboldt State its second loss of the season Saturday but the Lumberjacks escaped their home gym victorious, 64-62, after Kyle Baxter dropped in a layup with 3.5 seconds left in regulation.
The Broncos rallied back from a 13-point halftime deficit to temporarily hush the raucous Lumberjack Arena crowd of 1,352. CPP found itself down 62-59 with 28 ticks to go, when Mark Rutledge sunk a clutch three-pointer to tie the contest.
On the next possession the Lumberjacks patiently dissected the Broncos' zone and in the end, Baxter cut into the lane and dropped in a layup with those 3.5 seconds remaining. After a timeout, HSU's Brian Morris intercepted a long inbounds pass from Dwayne Fells and the buzzer sounded moments later.
CPP falls to 4-6 overall and 1-5 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association and the Jacks raise their marks to 11-1 overall and 7-1 through conference play.
Fells carried the Broncos offensively on Saturday, knocking down 11 shots en route to a career-high 24 points. The Fullerton, Calif., native entered the week with the 11th-highest field-goal mark in the nation at 66.7 percent.
The two teams traded leads on a number of occasions in the first half, as HSU pulled out to a 5-0 advantage through the first 100 seconds before CPP chipped away and took control 18-14 at the 11:43 mark. The Jacks stormed back at that point, using a 13-0 run that featured consecutive treys from Ernie Spada.
Late buckets from Mitchel Anderson, who scored nine of his 11 points during the opening period, brought the halftime margin to 37-24.
The HSU lead swung in and out of single digits with free throws from Fells and Rosser along with a Donnelle Booker three-pointer cutting into the host's advantage. Both squads went scoreless from the 14:52 to 11:58 marks, after which Terrence Drisdom tipped in a shot after a Rutledge miss to bring the score to 44-40 in favor of the Jacks.
During the final four minutes and 53 seconds of the contest, the CPP offense took five shots and converted on all of those attempts. On the other side, HSU went 2-for-3 from the field and 3-for-4 from the line, just enough to pull out the win.
A sixth attempt in the final second could have provided a miracle but Morris stepping in to steal the pass from Fells sealed the victory.
The HSU players were consistently able to get to the free throw line, going 18-for-24 on the night while the Broncos went to the strike a third of that amount - ending up 6-for-8 in the category.
On the night, Rutledge finished with five points and seven rebounds, which ties his career high. Kevin Menner contributed 10 points and three boards. Booker, who collected career rebound No. 500 with 1:42 left in Saturday's game, totaled nine points on 4-for-6 shooting.
Up next for CPP will be a three-game homestand that starts Friday with Cal State Stanislaus visiting town. Tipoff for that game is set for 7:30 p.m. The Warriors are 5-7 overall and 3-5 in CCAA action.
