Cal Poly men’s basketball fell to Cal State Northridge 68-55 in their Big West opener on Saturday, Jan. 8 inside the Matadome.
The Mustangs (3-9, 0-1 Big West) saw their last four games canceled due to COVID-19 and this matchup with the Matadors (5-8, 0-1 Big West) was their first game since Dec. 17.
After the Matadors jumped out to an early 5-0 lead in the first half, the Mustangs took their first lead of the game at 11-9 after a made three-pointer by sophomore guard Brantly Stevenson. Cal Poly pushed up to their biggest lead of the game when they led 26-19 with 5:52 remaining in the half.
The Matadors took the lead back with one minute remaining, but two made free throws by sophomore forward Kyle Colvin gave the Mustangs a 33-32 lead into the break.
Cal Poly extended their lead to 37-32 to open the second half, but a dominating 18-0 run by the Matadors gave CSUN a 50-37 lead with 10:29 remaining.
This run proved to be the story of the game, as the Mustangs could only cut the lead to as low as eight points and the Matadors closed out the game with a 68-55 victory.
Colvin finished with a game-high 24 points after shooting 6-10 from the field and 9-11 at the free-throw line. In addition, Stevenson collected a career-high 11 rebounds.
Cal Poly will return to Mott Athletics Center to face UC Riverside on Thursday, Jan. 13 at 7 p.m. for the team’s first home game in 59 days.