Cal Poly drops Big West home opener

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (KEYT). - Guard Hamad Mousa (above) finished with a career high 31 points as the Cal Poly men’s basketball program nearly overturned a double-digit deficit with six-and-a-half minutes to play in Saturday’s Big West home opener against UC Riverside before falling to the highlanders, 88-84, inside Mott Athletics Center.

Fellow sophomore Peter Bandelj added 13 points for Cal Poly (5-6, 1-1), which trailed UC Riverside, 75-65, before a 13-5 run by the Mustangs cut the deficit to two points with two minutes to play. Cal Poly dropped UC Riverside’s lead to one point three times down the stretch – including an 85-84 disadvantage following a layup from freshman Ali Assran with 24 seconds to play.

With Cal Poly forced to foul, Highlanders guard Osiris Grady sank both free throw attempts before a three-point effort from Mustangs sophomore guard Guzman Vasilic fell short.

Sophomore guard Cayden Ward finished with 12 points for Cal Poly while Assran recorded 10. Mousa also led all players with nine rebounds.

Trailing by 10 points at the break and by as much as 17 midway through the second half, Cal Poly kept UC Riverside (5-5, 1-1) without a three-pointer for the final 23 minutes. With Cal Poly still facing an 80-72 deficit with three-and-a-half minutes to go, Mousa knocked down three-pointers on successive possessions to cut the gap to 80-78.

Up Next: Cal Poly enjoys a 10-day break for finals week before hosting Montana State on Tuesday, Dec. 16 at 7 p.m. The Mustangs seek their first victory against the Bobcats at the third all-time opportunity.
With his 31-point performance, Hamad Mousa – a double-digit scorer in all 10 appearances – took over the Big West scoring lead at 20.5 points per game.
Mousa’s 31-point night marked the second highest scoring game by a Mustang this season following Peter Bandelj’s 37-point effort at Cal State Fullerton (Dec. 4).
Peter Bandelj – 2-for-4 from the three-point line Saturday after sinking a program-record nine threes in Thursday’s Big West-opening win at Cal State Fullerton – remained the Big West’s top three-point shooter at 50.0 (26-for-52) percent.

(Article courtesy of Cal Poly)