SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - The Cal Poly Pomona men's basketball team took a 21-point advantage into the locker room for a second-straight night and rolled over Texas A&M International, 75-45, to conclude a perfect CSUSB Thanksgiving Classic showing inside Coussoulis Arena on Saturday.
 
A season-best third win in succession pushes Cal Poly Pomona to 5-2 overall. The contest served as the Broncos' 2019-20 non-conference finale. Texas A&M International falls to 2-6 with a fifth-consecutive loss. The Dustdevils are members of the NCAA Division II and Lone Star Conference, out of Laredo, Texas. They dropped an 83-74 decision to host Cal State San Bernardino on Friday night, after CPP had eased past the University of Saint Katherine, 98-50.
 
The Broncos started things off with a drained three-pointer by senior William Christmas from the right wing 17 seconds in, and never trailed.
 
Coming out of the first media timeout, Phoenix Shackelford found fellow junior BJ Standley on the left wing for another triple, before Christmas stole a pass and went the distance to lay it in for an early 8-2 advantage. The run extended to 7-0 as Christmas grabbed the offensive rebound and was true with the putback for 10-2.
 
The first five points for the Dustdevils through the second media timeout at the 11:41 mark, came from the free throw line, courtesy of Matija Novkovic, as they started the contest 0-for-6 from the field before finally hitting their first shot.
 
Just ahead of the under-eight media timeout, Justin Young gained credit for the steal on one end, and then accepted fellow senior Nikhil Peters' pass underneath on the other, finishing with a right-handed jam for a 21-8 lead. CPP came out of the timeout and on its first possession, got a three-point play from Christmas for 24-8.
 
With under three minutes to go, Standley grabbed the rebound of a missed free throw and sprinted down the court with the ball, eventually finding redshirt junior Mason Dickerson for an easy layup down low, making it 29-12.
 
CPP went up 33-12 by halftime, allowing just two made field goals to TAMIU, on 16 attempts for a .125 shooting percentage. The 12 points were a season low by a Bronco foe for any half thus far on the season.
 
The result never came into any doubt after the break. Just past the midway point of the second period, Christmas knocked down a pair of free throws, and then Peters slapped an errant Dustdevil pass straight to Christmas, with the ball finding its way back to Peters for a baseline triple and 30-point cushion for the first time at 59-29.
 
The lead was its largest at 38, 73-35, after two Standley free throws at 2:11.
 
Standley paced all players in assists for a second-straight game, with a career-best eight after dishing out six on Friday. He added 12 points and season highs of five rebounds and two steals.
 
Three other Broncos reached double figures in scoring. Christmas provided a game-high 17, backed up by Riley Schaefer's 13 and Dickerson's season-high 11. Off the bench, Standley and Dickerson combined to shoot 8-of-13 from the field, 4-of-7 from long range and 3-of-4 from the stripe. Peters had a pair of triples for six points, and wound up with a career-best five of Cal Poly Pomona's season-high 17 steals.
 
Schaefer and Young shared the game high of seven rebounds. Junior reserve Tavian Henderson contributed by making his only field goal attempt to go alongside four boards, a game-high two blocks, two steals and an assist.
 
Demetrius Williams nailed another late three-pointer, his fourth on the weekend, and fellow redshirt freshman Sione Lauese Jr., muscled his way through the paint to register the Broncos' final points for the evening.
 
CPP shot .448 (26-58) from the field, holding TAMIU to .333 (15-45). The Broncos were successful on a season-high eight three-pointers for the second night in a row.
 
Cal Poly Pomona returns home to resume CCAA activity this Thursday, Dec. 5, against Humboldt State. Tip-off inside Kellogg Arena is slated for 7:30 p.m., after the Bronco women face off with the Jacks beginning at 5:30 p.m. All the action can be watched, for free, on the CCAA Network online (ccaanetwork.com), or by downloading the channel on Apple TV, Roku or Amazon Fire.
 
Bronco Bits: Cal Poly Pomona began with the same starting lineup for the seventh game in a row to open the season, of William Christmas, Nikhil Peters, Riley Schaefer, Phoenix Shackelford and Justin Young ... Christmas has started 54-straight games and appeared in 77 in a row ... Young has appeared in 82-consecutive contests ... CPP's previous low for points allowed in a half this season was 22 in the first period at Western Washington on Nov. 12 ... Head coach Greg Kamansky is now just one away from milestone win No. 400, at 399-161 over his 20-year CPP career ... BJ Standley's previous career best was seven assists, as a Saint Martin's freshman during an 85-63 win at Simon Fraser on Jan. 27, 2018 ... Saturday marked the first known meeting between these two teams ... Friday's 98-50 win over Saint Katherine to open the CSUSB Thanksgiving Classic meant CPP's biggest winning margin since another 48-point victory, 96-48, at home over Pacifica College on Dec. 15, 2011, and was also the Broncos' highest scoring output in a regulation contest since a 102-45 home decision over American Sports University on Dec. 11, 2010 ... CPP was up by an identical 21 points, 46-25, at halftime over USK ... The Broncos totaled 32 steals for the weekend, having gotten their hands on a then-season-high 15 on Friday.