Pepperdine
Hanson's Highlight Night Helps Cal Poly past Pepperdine
12/21/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
MALIBU, Calif. – Junior forward David Hanson registered a career-high 28 points and senior guard Shawn Lewis added 19 as the Cal Poly men's basketball program completed its pre-Big West Conference slate with a 70-64 victory versus Pepperdine on Tuesday evening at Firestone Fieldhouse.
Junior center Will Donahue added 10 points and a game-high nine rebounds for Cal Poly (4-7), which snapped a four-game slide and six-game road losing streak by recording season highs for field goal (45.8) and three-point (44.4) percentage. During just the program's third matchup against Pepperdine (5-9) in the previous 57 seasons and first visit to Malibu since Dec. 28, 1991, Cal Poly finished its five-game, 29-day road trip by leading the Waves wire-to-wire.
Cal Poly, which opens its 17th season of Big West action by hosting Long Beach State on Thursday, Dec. 30, held Pepperdine scoreless during the opening seven minutes and, keyed by three-pointers from Hanson and freshman guard Maliik Love and a further four points from Lewis, opened Tuesday's affair by registering the initial 12 points.
Pepperdine, forced into missing its initial eight shots, steadily rallied and, behind seven-consecutive points from senior forward Mychel Thompson, cut Cal Poly's advantage to 14-11 nine minutes before halftime. The Waves twice slimed Cal Poly's lead to fewer than three points down the stretch, but a three-point play by sophomore guard Chris O'Brien and a lay-in by Donahue during the final 68 seconds of the first half provided the Mustangs a 32-26 lead at the break.
Highlighted by one of Hanson's six three-pointers, Cal Poly notched five of the initial seven points out of halftime, but powered by eight points during a seven-and-a-half-minute stretch from guard Keion Bell – the nation's 11th-leading scorer entering the night – Pepperdine shortened Cal Poly's lead to 44-41 with 11 minutes to play. The Waves remained within three points of the Cal Poly lead at the seven-minute mark, but Hanson (above) bookended a 10-2 Mustang run with a pair of three-pointers to spur the Mustangs to their first double-digit advantage since the opening minutes and eventual victory.
Lewis, who finished 15-for-19 from the free throw line, sank nine of 10 attempts during the final 71 seconds to preserve victory for the Mustangs.
O'Brien totaled a game-high four assists while Love finished with three and zero turnovers in 33 minutes of action.
