POMONA, Calif. - Simply put, Friday's 75-55 loss at Chico State is one that the Broncos want to forget. With another conference road test Saturday, the Cal Poly Pomona men's basketball team will get a chance to bounce back sooner rather than later.
The 20-point gap Friday marked the largest margin of defeat for the Broncos so far this season.
Combined with other results around the league Friday, a familiar situation has arisen at the top of the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) standings. CPP is once again in a five-team tie for first place, joining Chico State, Humboldt State, Cal State Dominguez Hills and Cal State San Bernardino at that spot.
Although it came in a losing effort, Broncos' junior guard
Mitchel Anderson put together another solid performance. The Temecula, Calif., native finished with 15 points and seven rebounds. Four CSUC players totaled double figures Friday, highlighted by Damario Sims' 15 points.
The Broncos and Wildcats played even through the early stages of Friday's contest, as CSUC held a 16-14 edge with about eight minutes gone. For the next eight minutes though, it was all Wildcats.
The hosts reeled off a 22-4 run in that span, thanks in large part to stellar three-point shooting. The stretch featured five conversions from beyond the arc, including two each by Sims and Amir Carraway.
The halftime score settled at 43-26 in favor of the Wildcats. The steady play of Anderon helped the Broncos chip away at the host's advantage early in the second period.
A three-pointer from Anderson and a jumper by
Daniel Rodriguez combined for a modest 5-0 run for CPP and the Broncos ended up pulling within 13 points on two different occasions.
CSUC managed to counter strong once again though. A jumper from Sean Park pushed the score to 71-50 in favor of the Wildcats, with a three-minute scoring drought for both teams following that bucket. Once the offenses awoke, the margin still didn't fall below 20 the rest of the way.
The hosts helped themselves at the free throw line, recording a 19-for-25 effort at the strike Friday. The Broncos tallied 23 personal fouls as compared to CSUC's 12. Senior guard
Matt Rosser fouled out with about 10 minutes to play in the second half.
Terrence Drisdom and
DeRonn Scott ended up joining Anderson in double figures with point totals of 14 and 11 respectively.
Up next for CPP will be a 7:30 p.m. Saturday matchup at Cal State Stanislaus.
