In a pivotal matchup to decide the final seed for the Big West Conference Tournament, Cal Poly (12-18, 6-12 Big West) took down the Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners (13-18, 7-12 Big West) 98-72 after a dominant second-half of play on Saturday, March 1 at Mott Athletics Center.
Five Mustangs would score at least 14 points.
The 26-point spread is the Mustang’s most significant margin of victory since November 10 when they took down Menlo College by 33 points. This win could not have come at a better time.
Currently Cal Poly sits 1 1/2 games behind the University of Hawaii for the No. 7 seed in the tournament and one game behind Bakersfield, who is in the No. 8 seed, the Mustangs hold the tiebreaker over the Roadrunners after this win.
The first half remained close and both teams struggled to distance themselves.
At the end of the first 20 minutes, Cal Poly would have a 45-41 lead.
Coming out of the locker room after halftime the Mustangs turned on the jets and never looked back.
“We have a veteran group and we were just preaching to them to do the right thing,” Head Coach Mike DeGeorge said. “The ball started popping and shots started falling and we were able to pull away.”
Cal Poly outscored Bakersfield 53-31 in the second half, holding the Roadrunners to only 28% from the field, while the Mustangs shot 60%.
The Cal Poly freshman backcourt of Peter Bandelj and Cayden Ward combined for a perfect 15-for-15 from the free-throw line and added 14 points.
Graduate guard Jarred Hyder scored 14 points as well, and led the Mustangs in rebounding with five rebounds and four assists.
The veteran group Coach DeGeorge mentioned, stepped up in a big-time way and led the charge tonight.
Senior guard Issac Jessup was the Mustangs’ leading scorer with 21 points with a barrage of three-pointers.
The senior sharpshooter hit two three-pointers early in the game, and from then on, Jessup was in a zone, finishing 7-for-10 from behind the arc.
“The game is easy when your best shooter hits seven threes,” graduate wing Owen Koonce said.
Koonce had a solid outing for the Mustangs as well, as the graduate forward scored 14 points on an efficient 5-for-8 from the field, adding three rebounds and three assists.
Koonce’s play elevates in tough games, which is not always the case for some players.
Looking back to Cal Poly’s win over Stanford, Koonce had 30 points to take them down, and in both matchups against UC Santa Barbara, he averaged 23 points.
“We have our season on the line, but it’s all about staying in the moment in games like these,” Koonce said. “I just do my thing and stay aggressive.”
Koonce’s veteran calmness is able to keep the team loose in situations like this where there is a tournament on the line.
The Mustangs’ line is very thin, but ending the season on a three-game win streak would really increase their chances and give them the ability to control their own destiny.
These final games are crucial.
First up, the Mustangs will play their final home game hosting, Cal State Fullerton (6-24, Big West 1-17).
Up next, they finish the year matching up with Long Beach State (7-23, 3-15 Big West).
“All year we have been working to get to that post-season, it means everything just to have that opportunity,” Koonce said.
In the 2013-14 season, the Cal Poly Mustangs made the NCAA Tournament. Since then, the team has had only two wins in the Big West Tournament and not much meaningful basketball.
This year every game down the stretch means a chance.
“Coach DeGeorge says it all the time, but if you can play meaningful basketball at this point of the season, it shows you’ve been fighting,” Jessup said. “We’ve been fighting and now is our chance, we have to take advantage.”
Cal Poly will play that last home game against Fullerton on Thursday, March 6, for senior night.
