ARCATA, Calif. - Cal Poly Pomona jumped out to a 17-1 lead to start Wednesday's conference opener and later withstood a Humboldt State rally in the final minutes to secure a 66-54 road win over the Jacks.
The Broncos shot 55.3 percent from the field as
Mitchel Anderson led the way with 19 points on 8-for-14 shooting. CPP held a 17-point edge with under six minutes to play in the contest but three-straight treys from the Jacks helped the hosts pull to within six points.
Terrence Drisdom contributed two key baskets in the final 90 seconds and
DeRonn Scott added two clutch free throws to help the Broncos close out the 12-point victory.
Anderson, now with 1,022 career points, is just 18 shy of moving into the top 10 all-time in Broncos' history.
CPP, ranked 18th nationally, improves to 2-0 overall and 1-0 in California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) play while Humboldt falls to 2-1 overall and 0-1 in league action.
The Broncos brought defensive intensity from the opening tip as the Jacks didn't sink their first field goal until the 11:52 mark. Anderson powered the CPP offense early, collecting 10 points in the opening 10 minutes of action. The spread between the two teams pushed as high as 16 on a couple of different occasions in that span before the Jacks managed to chip away at the margin.
The visitors continued to distribute the ball well though and a Drisdom pass atop the arc led to an Anderson three-pointer at the 4:00 mark to get the advantage back to 16 at 31-15.
Minutes later, an Anderson miss from beyond the arc in the left corner was cleaned up by an offensive board from
Mohamed Fall before he put it right back up for a layup. That basket stretched CPP's lead to 33-15, the largest gap of the first half. The score settled at 33-19 going into halftime.
The Broncos outshot the Jacks through the opening 20 minutes, 52 percent to 33 percent. CPP also held a rebounding edge of 19-13 with Fall tallying five boards to go along with eight points and two blocks.
Rebounding toughness continued to play a role in the Broncos' success through the second half. With eight and half minutes gone, Drisdom skied for an offense board and tossed in a tip-in layup in the same motion to put CPP ahead 41-27.
After the Jacks cut the lead down to 10 on a few different occasions, the Broncos quieted the crowd with hustle and fast-break finishes. A long rebound for Drisdom led to a layup on the other end for Fall, who went to the hoop strong while drawing a foul. He converted the three-point play, bringing the score to 52-37.
An Alec Williams three-pointer with 3:24 to play brought the Jacks to within single digits at 60-51. Brandon Woods knocked down a trey of his own to make it a two possession game at 60-54.
Scott and Drisdom provided key plays down the stretch to help CPP push its edge back to double digits. In the final two minutes, Scott grabbed two rebounds and sank two free throws while Drisdom dropped in a pair of layups.
Joining Anderson in double figures Wednesday were Fall and Drisdom, who finished with point totals of 13 and 10 respectively. Scott led the team in both rebounds (8) and assists (5). The Broncos ended up with a 33-25 rebounding edge and a total of 10 steals, including four from Drisdom.
