Henderson, Nev. – Cal Poly Men’s Basketball was picked to finish dead last in the Big West preseason coaches’ poll before the season. They had the lowest odds to win the Big West Championships coming into the tournament.
Yet, the Mustangs advanced the furthest they have in the conference tournament since the team won the whole thing and qualified for the NCAA March Madness Tournament in the 2013-14 season.
The team defied all odds to reach the Big West Championships semifinals, but it ran out of momentum as it fell to UC Irvine 96-78 on Friday, March 14, at Lee’s Family Forum.
The team faced a rollercoaster of a season to get to this point. Getting off to one of their best starts in recent memory, extending and then breaking their 46-game Big West losing streak and now this run to the conference semifinals.
Playing three games in back-to-back-to-back days is no easy task, and Head Coach Mike DeGeorge emphasized that in the post-game presser.
“It’s very challenging to play three games in three nights,” DeGeorge said. “[UC Irvine] earned the right to be in the position they were in.”
That they did, as the Anteaters looked fresh all game while the Mustangs began to teeter off in the second half.
Despite holding a slim 39-38 lead at halftime, the Mustangs didn’t have an answer for Anteater center Bent Leuchten.
The 7-foot-1-inch senior from Germany was too much to handle in the paint on both sides of the ball for Cal Poly.
He scored 21 points while also tacking on 10 rebounds for a double-double.
Graduate guard Mac Riniker led the team in points and rebounds in his final collegiate game with 22 and 6.
Jarred Hyder also heavily contributed with 15 points, while freshman guard Peter Bandelj tacked on 11 points on 3-for-4 three-point shooting.
Bandelj and fellow freshman Cayden Ward look to lead a new group this upcoming season as plenty of seniors graduate and the offseason awaits.
