Box Score | SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - A furious second-half comeback for Cal Poly Pomona proved to be fruitless as the Broncos' season came to an end Saturday with a 75-69 overtime loss to Cal State Stanislaus in the second round of the NCAA postseason.
CPP trailed by 14 points at one point but a
Jordan Finn three-pointer with 0.5 seconds on the clock sent the game into overtime tied at 62-62. The Broncos' defense - ranked No. 1 nationally - couldn't slow down the Warriors in the extra session, allowing 13 points in the season-ending defeat.
CPP finishes the 2013-14 campaign at 22-7 overall. It marks the eighth 20-win season under the leadership of head coach
Greg Kamansky, who has 292 career coaching victories. The Broncos will return four starters next year while seniors
DeRonn Scott and
Connor Gacek depart.
Sophomore
Jordan Faison turned in another stellar playoff effort Saturday, scoring 18 points while adding seven rebounds.
The Broncos trailed 28-24 at halftime and the deficit increased to 14 points - 40-26 - with 12:54 left in regulation. It took more than seven minutes for CPP to score its first basket of the second half, with Finn dropping in a layup to break the drought. Freshman
Quentin Taylor knocked down a three on the next possession to trim the margin to single digits.
It took just six minutes for the Broncos to turn the 14-point gap into a one-point contest. CPP continued to trail up until the final moments, when Finn sank the triple at the 0.5-second mark after a
Barry Bell assist.
A pair of free throws from Taylor gave the Broncos an early edge in overtime but it was the Warriors' free throw shooting that proved to be the difference. After going 6-for-11 in that category through the first 40 minutes, CSUS knocked down 11 of its 14 overtime attempts.
Leading the Warriors' attack in Saturday's game were Taylor Bell and Marcus Bell. Tayler scored a game-high 22 points while Marcus added a double-double performance of 21 points and 12 rebounds.
With the win, Stanislaus advances into the West Regional title game to be played Monday at 7 p.m. in San Bernardino's Coussoulis Arena. The Warriors will play the winner of Cal State San Bernardino and Chico State, guaranteeing that a California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) program will reach the Division II Elite Eight.
