Tension skyrocketed as the seconds dwindled down in Cal Poly Men’s Basketball’s showdown with CSUN on Saturday, Feb. 15, at the Premiere America Credit Union Arena.
After an exciting offensive showdown that went back and forth, the Matadors led 87-85 with 12 ticks left on the clock. With possession, they inbounded the ball and tried to play keep-away before graduate guard Owen Koonce flew in and stole a CSUN pass while racing toward the hoop.
Koonce got to the paint and took a bump from Northridge’s Scotty Washington that sent him to the ground as he threw up a shot that rolled off the rim and fell to the floor.
The Mustangs sideline was irate as they jumped and pleaded for a foul call, but the referee swallowed his whistle, and Cal Poly went on to lose 89-85.
It was an important game for the Mustangs as far as the Big West conference goes.
With six games remaining, Cal Poly again drops behind Bakersfield to the ninth seed in the conference, just one under the top-eight cutoff for the Big West postseason Tournament.
Despite the loss, the game was a massive improvement for the Mustangs in comparison to the two teams’ first meeting on Saturday, Dec. 7.
In that game, Cal Poly had to claw out of a 24-point hole after an abysmal first half in which they shot 26% from the field. Missing graduate guard Jarred Hyder and senior Isaac Jessup from injury, the effort wasn’t enough as they fell 102-91.
This time around, Cal Poly hung around in a match that featured eight lead changes.
The Mustangs received significant offense from their rotation as the team’s top three scorers, Koonce, Hyder and Jessup, all caught fire with double figures in the first half. Add on freshman guard Cayden Ward’s nine points off the bench, and Cal Poly was riding high as they battled with CSUN.
It was a testament to the team’s transformation from the beginning of conference play up to now. A large part of the Mustangs’ recent success has been not falling behind early.
They’ve either been within a score or led teams going into the break as they’ve won four of their last six games. Instead of coming out flat, the Mustangs went into the break leading 50-46 after shooting 53% from three on 17 attempts.
However, despite all the changes that have gone on as this Cal Poly team has matured, a key problem once again reared its head.
Just as they were in the last match, where they gave up 54 points in the paint, the Mustangs were dominated on the inside, giving up 18 offensive rebounds and losing the overall rebound margin by 16 boards.
The Matadors turned those offensive rebounds into 20-second-chance points, which kept them level with Cal Poly throughout the contest.
The Mustangs’ offense fell in the second period in what seemed like an upside-down version of their last meeting.
Despite keeping the game close, Cal Poly shot 36% from the field in the second half and couldn’t put it together from beyond the arc, shooting just 23% from three.
Things went down to the wire, and the Mustangs had to engineer some late-game heroics that ended in the no-call shot from Koonce as CSUN was able to put Cal Poly away.
The Mustangs will have to shake the loss off and look forward to their next game against UC San Diego at Mott Athletics Center on Thursday, Feb. 20 at 7 p.m.