POMONA - Cal Poly Pomona raced out to a 17-3 lead early and put together a comprehensive 73-61 victory over area and West Region rival Azusa Pacific University in men's basketball action Saturday afternoon at Kellogg Arena to wrap up the Conference Crossover Challenge.
The result moves CPP to 2-0 on the young season, with APU now 0-2. Both teams were picked third in their respective conference preseason polls as members of the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) and Pacific West Conference, respectively. The Broncos are receiving votes outside of the top 25 of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Preseason Poll.
Cal Poly Pomona allowed the first points of the game on a Nate Kleppe three-pointer and never trailed again after tallying the next 17. The exclamation point came at the end in the form of a one-handed alley-oop dunk by
Christopher Mitchell off a fine feed from
Tavian Henderson that forced APU into a timeout. That opening run was spurred by nine points from
Phoenix Shackelford, who was coming off a career-best 24-point outburst against No. 21 Seattle Pacific in Friday's overtime win.
The Cougars came out of their huddle with back-to-back three-pointers, but Mitchell's triple sent the Broncos into the under-12 timeout up 20-9.
A left-wing three by Shackelford off another Henderson assist made it 25-12. On the opposite end of the court, Henderson came up with a big block on a Hayden Gray lay-up try following his offensive rebound. Shackelford then wrapped a smooth put-back of a
William Chavarin three-point miss and a second Henderson-aided three around the under-eight timeout, giving him 17 already as CPP took a 30-12 lead.
The score at the break settled on 40-24, with the three-ball keeping APU in it. Indeed, all seven of the Cougars' made field goals over the first 20 minutes came from beyond the arc, with three added free throws. The visitors were 0-for-10 for two-point field goals and 7-of-18 from deep.
CPP tallied the first four points coming out of the locker room on a Mitchell lay-up assisted by
Dane Erikstrup, and a Henderson bucket. Back-to-back baskets again by Shackelford and
Chris Gayles Jr. then made it 51-29 at the first media timeout of the second half. Coming out of the stoppage, Erikstrup assisted fellow freshman
Caleb Nelson on a made jumper and then drilled a three-pointer himself for a 56-29 bulge. The lead grew to as many as 29 at 60-31, before APU closed it late.
Shackelford finished with 21 points to declare his candidacy for the season's first CCAA Player of the Week distinction, shooting 8-of-12 from the field, including a pair of threes on four tries, and connecting on all three free throws. He also led the Broncos in rebounds for the second straight day, grabbing a game-high seven, and dished out a career- and game-high six assists to boot.
Mitchell and Erikstrup each reached double figures in points for the first time in their career, backing up Shackelford to the tune of 14 and 11, respectively. Erikstrup added six boards and Mitchell three steals. Henderson contributed six points, five rebounds, four assists, three steals, and the block. CPP's fifth starter for the second day running, true freshman
Jaden Winfield, had seven points, six boards and three steals.
Kleppe led APU with 14 points, with McKelary Robertson matching his three made three-pointers to total 13. CPP forced the Cougars into 21 turnovers and scored 27 points off of them.
Chico State (2-0) downed No. 21 Seattle Pacific (1-3), 70-65, in Saturday's first contest, as the CCAA swept the weekend in Pomona.
CPP remains at home and continues its non-league slate this Wednesday night, Nov. 17, against Westcliff University. Tip-off inside Kellogg Arena is slated for 7:30 p.m. The Warriors (1-1), out of Irvine, compete in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA).
All CCAA basketball contests throughout this 2021-22 season will stream live online via the CCAA Network at
www.ccaanetwork.com. Fans may also download the CCAA Network app on your iOS or Android smartphone, tablet, or through web streaming devices such as Amazon Fire, Roku or Apple TV. The broadcasts are free of charge through the remainder of the 2021 calendar year. Admission into Kellogg Arena is free for CPP students, staff and faculty.
Bronco Bits: Cal Poly Pomona is 419-166 (.716) overall under 22nd-year head coach and record five-time CCAA Coach of the Year
Greg Kamansky ... Kamansky sent out the same starting five for the second straight game, of seniors
Tavian Henderson and
Phoenix Shackelford, and freshmen
Dane Erikstrup,
Christopher Mitchell and
Jaden Winfield ... Redshirt freshman
William Chavarin made his college debut ... Shackelford has back-to-back 20-point games for the first time in his college career, and four 20-point efforts in all as a Bronco ... CPP is 29-17 all-time against Azusa Pacific (14-6 in Pomona) ... The Broncos had dropped three straight meetings and eight of 12 prior to Saturday ... CPP is 4-6 against the Cougars under Kamansky (2-1 in Pomona) ... Most recently, the Broncos had lost 66-62 to APU in Seattle, Wash., in the 2019-20 opener on Nov. 8, 2019 ... CPP also began the 2019-20 campaign with back-to-back games against APU and SPU, both in Seattle ... The Broncos were supposed to start the 2018-19 season against those two programs as well, but that tournament was canceled altogether due to severe wildfires in the Chico area ...
Milestone Watch: Shackelford now has 850 career points, while Henderson has 421 rebounds (110 at CPP).
