POMONA, Calif. – The Cal State San Marcos men’s basketball team (7-8, 6-3 CCAA) finished its four-game road trip with a 67-60 victory over Cal Poly Pomona (3-10, 2-7 CCAA) on Saturday at Kellogg Arena.
TOP PERFORMERS
Mike Pope – 25 points | 8-of-19 3FG | 2 rebounds
Edwyn Collins – 15 points | 8 rebounds | 4 assists | 2 steals
Charlie Henderson – 11 points | 7 rebounds | 2 blocks
Jack Schultz – 6 assists | 5 points | 4 rebounds | 2 steals
HOW IT HAPPENED
Tied 4-4 to begin the game, CSUSM went up 13-6 on a Pope 3-pointer to cap a 9-2 run with 13:03 left in the half.
After a CPP layup by Chris Gayles Jr. to make it 12:42, Pope drained another 3-pointer on the next possession to put the Cougars up by eight at 16-8 at the 12:23 mark.
CSUSM took its first double-digit lead at 24-14 on the third 3-pointer by Pope with six minutes to play in the period.
With 5:18 remaining in the first half, CSUSM took its largest lead of the game at 12 points as Henderson sunk two free throws to make it 26-14.
An eight-point run by the Broncos was capped by a Brandon Porter layup to make it 26-22 with 2:48 remaining in the half.
CSUSM ended the half with a layup and a free throw by Collins to take a 29-22 lead into the locker room.
Both teams shot 33.3% from the field in the first half while the Cougars were 33% (5-of-15) from downtown to the Broncos’ 7.7% (1-of-13).
A fast-break layup by Bing Huang out of halftime put CSUSM up 31-22 with 19:28 to play.
CPP knotted the game at 31-all with a 9-0 run that was capped by a Porter dunk with 16:30 remaining.
After CSUSM scored six consecutive points to go up 37-31 at the 15:45 mark, CPP matched it and tied the game once again at 39-all with 14:04 to play.
From that point, the Cougars took control of the game and soon went up 48-41 on a second-chance 3-pointer by Pope with just over 10 minutes remaining.
The Broncos came within three at 50-47 on a Kodey Weary second-chance layup with 7:54 to go, but that ended up being as close as CPP came to CSUSM’s lead.
Another second-chance 3-pointer by Pope gave CSUSM a 56-48 lead with 4:51 left.
The Cougars once again took a double-digit lead at 66-56 on a Collins layup and free throw with 1:09 remaining.
FAST BREAKS
Pope’s eight 3-pointers tied for the second most in a single game in program history and were the most by a Cougar since Josh Spier’s eight at Cal Poly Humboldt on Feb. 15, 2018.
Leading the Cougars with 25 points, Pope set a new career high.
CSUSM tallied 16 assists to CPP’s 11 while committing fewer turnovers at 17-13.
CSUSM scored 15 second-chance points and 18 points off turnovers.
The Cougars led for 34:56 while the Broncos were on top for 2:20.
CPP won the rebound battle at 36-35 while CSUSM had more offensive boards at 13-11.
The Broncos tallied two more steals than the Cougars at 7-5.
CPP’s Porter led the game with 28 points and was the lone Bronco in double figures.
The Broncos shot 48.1% (25-of-52) while the Cougars came in at 39.3% (22-of-56).
CSUSM’s win knotted the all-time series at 7-7 and tied the series at 4-4 when playing at Kellogg Arena.
UP NEXT
CSUSM will come home to face San Francisco State on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in The Sports Center.
