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Cal Poly upsets Fullerton at the Big West Tournament

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Cal Poly upsets Cal State Fullerton 87-82 at the Big West Tournament.

LAS VEGAS, Nevada. - Sophomore guard Colby Rogers led five Mustangs in double-digit scoring figures, matching a career high with 21 points Tuesday evening as the 10th-sedded Cal Poly men's basketball program earned its first Big West Conference Tournament victory in seven seasons with an 87-82, opening-round win against No. 7 Cal State Fullerton at the Michelob ULTRA Arena inside Mandalay Bay.

With Tuesday's victory, Cal Poly – returning to the Big West Tournament after a three-year hiatus – advanced to face No. 2 UC Irvine on Thursday, March 11. Tip time for the quarterfinal matchup is 5 p.m. with action streamed via ESPN3.

Cal Poly's victory marked the first Big West Tournament win by a No. 10 seed since UC Irvine defeated No. 7 UC Santa Barbara on March 10, 1994.

Sophomore forward Alimamy Koroma added 18 points for Cal Poly (4-19), which conceded a three-pointer 41 seconds into action before scoring the next 17 points and leading for the remainder of the evening. Facing Cal State Fullerton for just the second time in Big West Tournament history – 14 years to the day since topping the Titans in the 2007 semifinals – the Mustangs shot 56.6 (30-for-53) percent from the floor and 66.7 (12-for-18) percent from three-point range.

Senior guard Keith Smith, junior forward Tuukka Jaakkola and sophomore guard Kobe Sanders each scored 10 points for Cal Poly, which snapped a nine-game slide Tuesday.

Cal State Fullerton, the lone program in the Big West Tournament field Cal Poly did not face during the regular season after the Feb. 12-13 series was cancelled due to COVID concerns, attempted 32 three-pointers – but knocked down just 13.

Leading 17-3 after the opening six-and-a-half minutes, Cal Poly received a three-point from senior wing Mark Crowe to stay up 36-24 with two-and-a-half minutes left in the first half.

Cal State Fullerton, however, closed the opening half with an 8-0 run, trimming Cal Poly's advantage to 36-32 heading into the break.

With Rogers, Smith and Crowe each hitting three-pointers inside the opening five minutes of the second half, the Mustangs stretched the advantage back to 49-37.

Cal Poly by as much as 15 in the second half before Cal State Fullerton shortened its deficit to 85-82 with 55 seconds to play after guard Tory San Antonio sank a three-pointer.

The Mustangs missed a layup on their next possession, but Titans guard Landis Spivey missed two three-point attempts during the final seconds – the first blocked by Cal Poly graduate guard Riley Till – before freshman forward Brantly Stevenson grabbed the defensive rebound. Stevenson then sank two free throws to provide the final margin of victory for Cal Poly.

Article courtesy of Cal Poly Athletics

Article Topic Follows: College Sports

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Mike Klan

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