After the Cal Poly Men’s Basketball dropped their season opener at USC, the Mustangs rebounded Wednesday night with a 101-79 home win over Pacific Lutheran, righting the ship after a tough matchup to open the season.
After last Monday’s game against USC, facing the Division III program was a chance for the Mustangs (2-1) to get back into the win column.
Although the box score may appear to be a well-earned win, head coach Mike DeGeorge wasn’t satisfied with the team’s performance in their first official win of the season.
“There are times where they get a little frustrated and confused, and, you know, we don’t fix problems quickly enough,” DeGeorge said, “We saw a lot of that throughout the game.”
DeGeorge noted significant improvements that carried over from practice to the court in-game. He said he’s looking forward to the upcoming stretch of matchups, which will give the Mustangs a better understanding of each opponent’s style as they prepare for Big West Conference play.
“We’ll be in time as the season unfolds,” DeGeorge said. “We were proud that the guys kept battling and found a way to play better in that second half.”
Leadership in the locker room
Sophomore guards Cayden Ward and Hamad Mousa emphasized their focus on developing leadership skills and strengthening team morale from practice to games.
“The biggest thing for our team is just learning how to fight through adversity, and when the game gets tough, we just got to keep fighting, as we did tonight.” Ward said, “[In] the second half, we were able to turn it on.”
The Mustangs have faced their share of challenges, but those obstacles have also created opportunities for growth. Both Ward and Mousa said they’re team is trying to build momentum and improve their overall team chemistry..
“We’re a very young team, so there’s a lot we have to go to work on mentally,” Ward said.
Looking at the box scores, the win over Pacific Lutheran had many notable highlights as well as some career-highs, specifically for emerging leaders Ward and Mousa.
Ward led the Mustangs with a career-high 26 points and eight rebounds, while Mousa recorded a double-double with 23 points and 12 rebounds.
The first half was very tight, but the Mustangs were able to flip the switch by the second half, including the 13-0 run to make the score 92-69 with four minutes before the buzzer.
“We came in not ready at the start, but in the second half, we kind of turned on the jets and kept going,” Mousa said.
Season-opening loss to USC
Earlier in the week on Monday, Cal Poly made the trip down to Los Angeles for one of their most challenging matchups of the season against USC.
The Mustangs kept the game relatively close in their season opener with four scorers reaching double figures, but the perennial powerhouse Trojans outmatched Cal Poly, taking a 94-64 win.
Leading the way for Cal Poly was Ali Assran, a true freshman guard hailing from Cairo, Egypt. The 6’9 forward got 18 minutes coming off the bench in the loss, pacing the Mustangs from behind the arc with three three-pointers in five attempts.
Returners Ward and Peter Bandelj, along with newcomer Mousa, were the other Mustangs to reach double figures in the loss.
USC is one of the tougher tests that Degeorge and his staff added to the team’s schedule as they gear up for the conference season, which won’t start until December.
Their upcoming opponents look to be more manageable, but later on the calendar, they will have to take on more of the top teams in college basketball, most notably the looming trip to UCLA on Dec. 19.
Next week, they will have just two games on the calendar, with trips to face Colorado State and Montana on the road.