Cal Poly Men’s Basketball’s struggles continued as they dropped their 15th consecutive game, a 68-50 loss to the Cal State Fullerton Titans (12-15, 5-10 Big West) on Thursday, Feb 22 at Titan Gym.
The Mustangs (4-23, 0-15 Big West) have now lost five straight against the Titans, with their last win coming in the 2021 Big West Tournament.
Following a seven-day absence from play, the team returned to give a valiant fight in the first half, keeping it close for most of the period. The Mustangs would score their last points of the half at the 4:40 mark, allowing the Titan lead to swell to as much as 12, who finished the half with a 31-19 advantage.
Cal Poly’s defense allowed the Titans to shoot 46% from three in the first half on six of 13 from distance.
The Mustangs were without junior center Joel Armotrading for the second straight game, and his absence was felt on the boards. His team-leading 4.8 rebounds per game would have helped diminish a 41-31 rebound disadvantage.
The Mustangs had no answer in the second half, as the deficit never returned to below double digits. An efficient second half for the Titans combined with nine turnovers in the period for the Mustangs put the game away early, with momentum never swinging back the Mustangs’ way.
Freshman backcourt shines
Fresh off the heels of his first collegiate double-double, freshman guard Quentin Jones was a bright spot in the loss, collecting a team-high 14 points and three three-pointers. Jones served as an offensive lifeline right out of the gates, starting 3-4 on threes and amassing 11 of the team’s first 19 points. This marks the third straight game in double-figure scoring for Jones, the longest such streak for him this season.
Starting alongside Jones was fellow freshman Justin Page, who finished with a career-high nine points. Most of Page’s points came in the mid-range, finding a second-half scoring groove that led to seven of his nine points.
Efficiency struggles continue
The Mustangs entered this game dead last in the Big West in field-goal percentage, and that will not change after shooting 35% from both the field and three-point range. Star senior Kobe Sanders struggled, scoring 10 points on 4-10 shooting. The only starter to shoot 50% or better from the field was graduate student Tuukka Jaakkola, who finished with six points on 2-4 shooting while also snagging eight rebounds in the process.
Lack of bench contribution
Two second-half buckets from sophomore Aaron Price, Jr. would serve to be the only bench points of the entire game from the Mustangs, leading to a staggering 31-5 bench advantage for the Titans.
Only three Mustangs received minutes off the bench, compared to five on the other side. This tight eight-man rotation gave each player off the bench nine minutes, with Price, Jr. the only one able to contribute to the scoring effort.
Cal Poly will come back home to Mott Athletics Center to face UC Riverside in their next matchup on Saturday, Feb. 24.