POMONA, Calif. - With sharp free-throw shooting and a high-energy defense, the Cal Poly Pomona men's basketball team captured a 57-48 season-opening victory Saturday against Notre Dame de Namur.

Although the Broncos never trailed in the game, the visiting Argonauts (0-3) certainly gave the hosts a test. NDNU's Arron Mollet hit a three-pointer with 7:05 left in the game to trim CPP's lead to 43-40. Nonetheless, the Broncos outscored the Argonauts 14-8 the rest of the way to improve to 1-0 on the season.

CPP finished 14-for-16 from the free throw line, highlighted by Mitchel Anderson's 7-for-8 effort. Anderson led the team in points with 15 while Terrence Drisdom added 11 off the bench. The Broncos' defense, led by Matt Rosser's four steals, forced 16 NDNU turnovers on the afternoon.

The two teams went through a short scoring drought to start the game, before Anderson knocked down a three-pointer to get CPP on the board. That brought the crowd of 602 to its feet, collectively eager to see the new Broncos in action.

Although the squads' sputtered a bit early offensively, CPP got going just a bit past the midway point in the opening period. Senior Tyquan Brown threw down a dunk after the Argonauts turned the ball over, then Rosser followed with a slam of his own following another NDNU miscue to put the Broncos ahead by seven.

A Mollet trey with 25 seconds remaining brought the margin down to four but two free throws from Anderson pushed the score to 22-16 heading into the break.

CPP kept its sizeable cushion through the early part of the second half, as sophomore Andrew Steel found his shooting touch. The Australia native registered seven of his nine points in the closing period.

The Argonauts kept fighting though, slashing the Broncos' lead to three points on six different occasions between the 12:00 and 5:11 marks. That was the closest NDNU could get though, with CPP going 11-for-12 from the free throw line in the second half to keep the visitors at bay.

Up next for the Broncos will be a 5 p.m. matchup Wednesday at San Francisco State to start California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) play.