Cal Poly loses at Long Beach State

LONG BEACH STATE, Calif. (KEYT). Sophomore guard Hamad Mousa finished with a team leading 19 points and junior guard Jake Davis (above) enjoyed a career high 15 Saturday evening, but the Cal Poly men’s basketball program sustained a 74-68 setback at Long Beach State. 

Mousa also grabbed a team high eight rebounds for Cal Poly (6-10, 2-2), which led just once (by a single point) and was kept to a 33.9 (19-for-56) percent field goal mark. Meanwhile, Long Beach State (5-10, 1-2) – which led by as much as 25 points in the second half before Cal Poly cut the gap to 11 with four minutes to go – finished with a 50.0 (29-for-58) percent mark. 

Held to a 5-for-17 shooting start, Cal Poly trailed 23-17 seven-and-a-half minutes before the break. The Mustangs though received a pair of free throws from freshman forward Ali Assran before Davis knocked down his second three-pointer of the night to cut the gap to one. 

Cal Poly, however, kept without a field goal the remainder of the half as Long Beach State – shooting 53.3 (16-for-30) percent in the opening period – took a 38-26 lead into the locker room. 

Davis opened the second half with another three-pointer to break Cal Poly’s drought, but Long Beach State countered with a 13-6 run out of the break to stretch the advantage to 51-32 with 15 minutes to play. 

Cal Poly still faced a 65-41 deficit with nine-and-a-half remaining before reeling off a 16-3 run to close within 11 points. Long Beach State, however, scored on its next two possessions to maintain a double-digit advantage.

Cal Poly Noteworthy (at Long Beach State)

Saturday’s matchup was played inside Long Beach State’s auxiliary facility – The Gold Mine – after rain in Southern California forced the closure of the LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid. 

Up Next: Cal Poly stays on the road, visiting CSUN on Thursday, Jan. 8 at 7 p.m. on ESPN+. 

With Saturday’s setback, Cal Poly sits in a three-way tie for fourth place in the Big West standings alongside UC Santa Barbara and CSUN. 

Now a double-digit scorer in all 15 appearances, Hamad Mousa kept hold of the Big West lead at 20.9 points per game. 

(Article by Cal Poly Athletics)