POMONA – Kasey Smit caught fire late in Cal Poly Pomona's victory on Thursday and stayed hot Saturday evening to lead the Broncos to a 71-65 win over Sonoma State.
 
The win moves the Broncos to 14-7 on the year and 10-5 in the CCAA, sitting tied for third in the conference standings. The Seawolves drop to 13-8 overall, 9-7 in the CCAA with the result.
 
Smit finished the night with a double-double, scoring 26 points on 10-for-15 shooting, while grabbing 10 rebounds in all but two minutes of action. Jayda Villareal followed with 14 points on the night (6-for-11), while dishing out four assists without a turnover. Jackie Ricketson finished with eight points and eight assists for the Broncos.
 
SSU built a six-point lead in the first quarter, but CPP ended the quarter on an 8-2 run to put the teams deadlocked at 14-14 after the first 10 minutes. Smit rattled in a three-pointer to spark the run, before Villareal capped it with a put-back just seconds before the buzzer.
 
Halfway through the second, the Broncos tried to create some separation. Down 22-21, CPP scored eight unanswered points to jump in front 29-22. Once again, Smit got the ball rolling for the Broncos with a jump shot – after making a block on the other end of the court – and Lauryn Catching made it a seven-point game by laying the ball in off a Ricketson assist.
 
The Seawolves battled back, however, and managed to go into halftime just trailing by three points.
 
The Broncos seem to be heating up in the third and CPP finished the frame with a 52.9 shooting percentage, hitting three of their six three-point attempts as well, to go ahead 52-47 heading into the final quarter.
 
Less than two minutes into the fourth, Villareal drained a triple to threaten a double-digit lead for the Broncos, 56-47. It wouldn't come until the 5:22 mark on the clock, though, when Smit banked in a jump shot to put CPP up 64-53.
 
The Seawolves kept battling and managed to pull within three with just 50 seconds remaining, but the Broncos weren't going to let the visitors get away with the game. As SSU tried to foul to get back in the game, Ricketson and Smit finished their free throws to seal the game 71-65.
 
CPP makes the long trek to Humboldt State next, tipping off against the Lumberjacks on Feb. 6 at 5:30 p.m.