Cal Poly stays hot as they pull away and win at Fullerton

FULLERTON, Calif. -Freshman guard Cayden Ward led five Mustangs in double-digit scoring figures with a career best 19 points as the Cal Poly men's basketball program prevailed for the fourth time in its last five Big West outings, pulling away from Cal State Fullerton Thursday evening for a 98-83 victory inside Titan Gym.

Graduate guards Jarred Hyder and Owen Koonce both finished with 17 points for Cal Poly (10-15, 4-9), which sank 13 three-pointers and shot 58.8 (20-for-34) percent during the second half to outdistance Cal State Fullerton (6-20, 1-13). Trailing 68-65 with seven-and-a-half minutes to play, Cal Poly scored 33 of 58 second-half points down the stretch.

Graduate guard Mac Riniker added 15 points and freshman guard Peter Bandelj finished with 12 and a game high eight rebounds for Cal Poly, which also shot 88.2 (15-for-17) percent from the free throw line.

Ward, whose previous career scoring high was a 15-point effort at UC Irvine (Jan. 18), drained his opening four three-point attempts Thursday, finished 7-for-10 from the floor and grabbed seven boards.

With Thursday's victory, Cal Poly surged past Cal State Bakersfield and into eighth place in the Big West standings by a half game with the top eight programs qualifying for the March 12-15 Big West Tournament.

Cal Poly completes a two-game road trip at CSUN on Saturday, Feb. 15. Tip time on ESPN+ is 5 p.m.

Trailing 7-0 to start and 18-13 after eight minutes, Cal Poly – shooting 47.4 (9-for-19) percent from beyond the arc in the opening period – drew level at 26-26 after Ward sank his third three-pointer of the night six minutes before the break. Ward added his fourth a minute later to hand Cal Poly a 32-31 lead while Koonce and freshman guard Guzman Vasilic also connected from deep down the stretch as the Mustangs took a 40-36 advantage into the locker room.

Cal Poly then opened the second half with a Koonce dunk and a Hyder three-point play to increase the lead to 45-36. Hyder, scoring eight of Cal Poly's initial 10 second-half points, next knocked down his side's 10th three-pointer of the night to hand the Mustangs the game's first double-digit lead with 17-and-a-half minutes to play.

Cal Poly still led 58-48 with 13-and-a-half minutes remaining before Cal State Fullerton recorded a 12-0 run to go back in front.

The two sides traded the lead four times during the ensuing four minutes before a Vasilic three-pointer swung the edge back to Cal Poly at 70-68 with six-and-a-half to play. Ward and Riniker followed with buckets as the Mustangs began to distance themselves from the Titans.

(Article courtesy of Cal Poly Athletics)