Cal Poly Men’s Basketball dropped the second game of the weekend series against the University of Hawai’i by the score of 81-64 on Saturday, Feb. 6th at the Stan Sheriff Center.
The defeat was Cal Poly’s (3-13, 1-9) third straight loss of the season, while the Rainbow Warriors (7-5, 5-5) have now won three straight contests.
Sophomore guard Colby Rogers got the Mustangs jump started early, accounting for the team’s first seven points. Rogers’ dominant performance was able to keep Cal Poly close throughout the first 10 minutes of the first half, with the game tied at 28 with 5:07 left.
The Rainbow Warriors began to pull away as the first half came to a close, breaking off a 11-1 run to take a 39-29 lead with 3:00 remaining before halftime. Heading into the break, Hawai’i led the Mustangs by the score of 44-35.
The Rainbow Warriors outshot the Mustangs, shooting 62% from the field compared to the 45% shooting mark of Cal Poly. Hawai’i also shot better from beyond the arc, putting up a 38% mark while the Mustangs converted just 25% of their three-point shots.
Rogers led all scorers with 14 points on 6-12 shooting, while sophomore forward Alimamy Koroma was second for Cal Poly with eight points of his own on 3-5 from the field.
The second half proved to be all Rainbow Warriors, as the Mustangs were behind by double digits for the final 16 minutes of the game. Despite the stellar second half by Koroma, who totaled 10 points in the half, Cal Poly couldn’t keep up with the offense of Hawai’i, who outscored the Mustangs 37-29 to close out their win.
Back-to-back threes at the end of the game by sophomore guard Junior Webster sealed the victory for the Rainbow Warriors, 81-64.
Koroma led Cal Poly with 18 points and Rogers, despite scoring 14 in the first half, ended with just 16 points of his own. Freshman forward Brantley Stevenson chipped in 12 points while coming off of the bench.
This game was Koroma’s fifth straight in double figures and Rogers’ third in the last four contests.
Hawai’i maintained their advantage in the shooting battle, totaling 55% from the field and 50% from three on the game while the Mustangs shot 42% from the field and a low 20% from long range. The Rainbow Warriors also won the rebounding battle, 34-28.
Cal Poly will look to get back on track against Cal State Fullerton as they return home on Friday, Feb. 12 inside Mott Athletics Center.
