8-3
Fresno State
4-7
Mustang Men's Basketball Registers Historic Victory at Fresno State
12/17/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
POSTGAME REACTION: JOE CALLERO | DAVID HANSON | AMAURYS FERMIN
FRESNO, Calif. – Senior point guard Amaurys Fermin finished with 12 points and senior forward David Hanson (above) – who became the 18th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points – finished with a further 12 as the Cal Poly men's basketball team, off to the program's best start in 10 seasons, produced its first victory against Fresno State in 41 years with a 65-46 triumph inside the Save Mart Center on Saturday evening.
Senior forward Will Taylor added a game-high eight rebounds for the Mustangs (8-3), who ended a 13-game slide against the Bulldogs (4-7) dating to Feb. 4, 1971. In keeping pace with the 2001-02 Mustang squad for the best start during the program's 18-year Division I history, Cal Poly shot 51.0 (25-for-49) percent from the floor and 42.9 (9-for-21) percent from three-point range.
Winners of six of their previous seven games, Cal Poly completes its two-game road trip against DePaul inside the Allstate Arena on Wednesday, Dec. 21 at 5:30 p.m. PT.
The Mustangs trailed just once following Bulldog sophomore forward Jerry Brown's game-opening layup and, with all five starters having scored inside the game's opening eight minutes, the Mustangs charged out to a 15-8 lead. A three-pointer from sophomore forward Chris Eversley and a Taylor lay-in helped Cal Poly increase its lead to 27-18 90 seconds before the break, but it was Fermin's 40-foot hanging three-pointer on the sound of the halftime buzzer that allowed the Mustangs to retain their nine-point cushion.
Hanson and U'u sunk successive layups out of halftime to quickly provide Cal Poly its first double-digit lead of the night. Back-to-back three-pointers from Fermin and sophomore guard Kyle Odister minutes later extended Cal Poly's dominance to a 42-25 advantage with 13 minutes to play. Odister, who had scored just six points in six appearances entering Saturday's match, nailed a second three-pointer moments later to fortify Cal Poly's cushion at 18 points.
Through nine points from Bulldog senior guard Jonathan Wills, Fresno State produced a 13-1 run during the ensuing four minutes to cut the Mustang advantage to 48-40. However, the Mustangs answered with a quick 10-0 run to cement the final decision.
Hanson's only three-pointer of the evening with two minutes remaining helped the Plymouth, Minn., native reach the 1,000-point plateau.
