 "Photo: Paul Rosales/Poly Post")
Cal Poly’s men’s basketball team played three games against Cal State San Bernardino, Chico State, and Cal State Stanislaus last week and won them all 63-59, 69-61, and 65-32, respectively. The Broncos have won seven straight.
The last time a team scored fewer than 32 points against the Broncos was 31 years ago when the Broncos topped Cal State Bakersfield 30-26 in the 1978-79 season.
Most importantly, though, the Broncos clinched a CCAA Tournament berth in the midst of improving their record to 12-4 in conference play and their overall record to 14-5. They are third place in the CCAA Conference behind Humboldt State and Cal State San Bernardino, which both have a conference record of 13-3, and an overall record of 16-5.
In Saturday’s game against Stanislaus State, the Broncos never trailed, and at one point, went on a 15-0 run.
Going into the half, the Broncos led by seven points. But in the second half, the Broncos made three times as many points as their opponent, scoring 39 points and holding the Warriors to 13, a season-defensive best.
The Broncos’ victory was a team effort in which every player who played scored. Leading the team offensively were junior guard Mark Rutledge, who scored 13 points and made seven rebounds, and sophomore center Dwayne Fells, who racked up 12 points, five rebounds, and two assists.
The Broncos finished the game shooting 51.0 percent from the floor and not only finished with their team’s largest win, but also with the largest win for any team in the 2009-10 season.
Saturday’s game was preceded by the aforementioned Tuesday night thriller against Cal State San Bernardino.
“Almost everyone stepped it up,” said head coach Greg Kamansky. “Basically a good team effort.”
Tuesday’s victory was significant because during their road trip, the Broncos played and won all five games, a first in the team’s 62-year history.
Junior forward Donnelle Booker led the team with 13 points, while collecting four rebounds and two assists.
Sophomore guard Matthew Rosser was one of three other players who scored in double-digits, leading the team in free throws, making seven of eight, on his way to matching his season-high of 11 points.
The Broncos led by as many as seven points in the first half. However, the Coyotes overcame that deficit and led by seven points with 13 minutes to play in regulation.
Over the next 12 minutes, the Broncos chipped away at the Coyotes’ lead, and retook it with 1:20 left to play.
With three seconds remaining, the Broncos held onto a slim two-point lead, but Rosser sealed the Broncos’ victory by draining both of his free throws.
While this game was a nail-biter, coach Kamansky said, “We played a lot more physical.”
Coach Kamansky also said the Coyotes are a team that scores several of its points off of turnovers, and the fact that they did not have a lot of them was a key component in the Broncos’ win.
Despite winning five straight, coach Kamansky said that in the first seven minutes of the second half, the Broncos only scored two points.
“We need to maintain our offense,” said Kamansky. “We just need to get a little solid on offense.”
The five-game winning streak is a remarkable feat, and Kamansky said, “Just the reality of losing three straight games at home” is the key ingredient that has been present during the streak.
“We had to learn to play physical, and not let that be an excuse,” said Kamansky. “Once that started happening, we started rebounding.”
Friday night’s game against Chico State marked the beginning of a two-game home stand for the Broncos.
For the Broncos, it was a team effort, as every player scored at least five points. Leading the team were freshman guard Mitchel Anderson, who matched his career-high with 14 points off the bench, and senior guard Austin Swift, who scored 10.
Last month, the teams played each other in a game that was decided in overtime, and saw the Wildcats eek out a 72-70 win.
Despite the Broncos finishing with a commanding eight-point lead, the Wildcats went on a 15-6 run in the second half that brought them to within one point of the Broncos on two occasions. However, the Broncos took advantage of the Wildcats’ turnovers and made crucial defensive plays to maintain their lead, and ended the game shooting a season-high 57.7 percent from the floor.
This week, the Broncos begin a four-game road trip and will take on division-leading Humboldt State on Thursday and 8-13 Sonoma State on Saturday.
Reach Erik Carr at: sports@thepolypost.com
Be the first to comment on this article!