Box Score
POMONA, Calif. – The Cal Poly Pomona men's basketball team faced a one-point deficit with less than two minutes remaining in Friday's game against Humboldt State but the Lumberjacks came up clutch at the free throw line, hitting their final five attempts to leave the Broncos with a 64-60 defeat.
CPP falls to 12-8 overall and 9-7 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association, while first-place HSU improves to 19-2 overall and 15-2 through conference play.
The Broncos received two big contributions from the bench, with Mitchel Anderson pacing the CPP attack with 17 points on 7-for-8 shooting and Kevin Menner contributing 12 points of his own. Randy Hunter led the Jacks' offense with 17 points, including a 9-for-14 showing at the free throw line.
With 2:04 to play in regulation, Anderson went to the free throw line and hit one of his two attempts to cut HSU's advantage to 57-56. Brian Morris hit a key jumper for the Jacks and after Dwayne Fells missed a chance with 55 seconds left, the Broncos found themselves on defense and down three.
A foul by Menner brought Hunter to the line, where he went 1-for-2 on that trip. Down 60-56 with 22 seconds on the clock, Menner made a quick two-pointer to cut the margin to two. Brandon Sperling and Kyle Baxter knocked down two clutch free throws each though, helping to close the contest in HSU's favor, 64-60.
The Broncos carried a 28-25 lead into halftime, as Matt Rosser paced CPP in the opening period with eight points. The junior from Temecula, Calif., finished the night at 11 points and eight rebounds, including a career 9-for-10 performance at the strike. Overall as a squad, the Broncos went 13-for-17 (76.5 percent) from the line Friday.
Donnelle Booker came up with three key blocks, moving him up to 134 for his career and into a tie with Terrell Davis for the No. 1 spot all-time in CPP program history. One of his frontcourt teammates, Fells, nearly totaled a double-double performance Friday with eight points and eight rebounds.
HSU held a small lead for much of the first half but the Broncos rattled off a 10-1 run between the 5:55 and 1:25 marks that was capped off with an emphatic dunk from Rosser. The Jacks rallied for their own 6-0 stretch to close out the half though, leaving CPP with that 28-25 advantage at intermission.
The two squads exchanged leads during much of the second period but after a Hunter free throw at 5:21, the visiting HSU team ended up pulling away for good. The Broncos cut the margin back to one point on three different occasions in those final five minutes but CPP couldn't retake the lead.
Up next, the Broncos will host Sonoma State at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. The Seawolves stand at 8-13 overall and 6-11 in CCAA play.
