Cal Poly punches ticket to Big West Tournament with win at Long Beach State

LONG BEACH, Calif. - Graduate Jarred Hyder scored a game high 25 points and fellow guard Owen Koonce add 20 Saturday afternoon as the Cal Poly men's basketball program clinched a return to the Big West Championships with an 83-69 victory during the regular season finale at Long Beach State.

Senior guard Isaac Jessup finished with 15 points to become the third Mustang this season – following Koonce and Hyder – to reach 1,000 career points for Cal Poly (14-18, 8-12), which closed the regular season with four victories in its final five games.

Requiring victory Saturday to guarantee a spot in the March 12-15 Big West Championships, Cal Poly knocked down 18 three-pointers to secure the No. 7 seed. The Mustangs will face sixth-seeded UC Davis in the Wednesday, March 12 opening round. Tip time from Lee's Family Forum in Henderson, Nev., is 8:30 p.m. on ESPN+.

Hyder, who sank six three points and finished 9-for-14 from the floor, became Cal Poly's new single-season leader for three-point attempts Saturday, improving to 255 – four more than the previous mark set by guard Ben Larson during the 1995-96 season.

Hyder (88 three-pointers) and Jessup (87) also moved closer to eclipsing Larson's single-season record of 94 three-pointers, also established in 1995-96.

Freshman guard Peter Bandelj added 11 points and a game high eight rebounds for Cal Poly, which trailed Long Beach State just four times Saturday, never by more than three points and for just four-and-a-half total minutes.

With Koonce hitting his first three attempts from deep, Cal Poly began Saturday's matchup 6-for-10 from the three-point line to carve out a 21-17 lead after nine minutes.

Long Beach State rallied to overtake Cal Poly multiple times down the stretch with a three-pointer from guard Devin Askew handing the hosts a 37-34 lead five minutes before the break.

Cal Poly, however, closed the half with a 13-4 run to go up 47-41 heading into the locker room.

A pair of Koonce jumpers to open the second half provided Cal Poly its first double-digit lead and a Hyder three-pointers moment later placed the Mustangs up 54-43 with 17 minutes remaining. Cal Poly led by as much as 20 points late in the matchup.

(Article courtesy Cal Poly Athletics).