5-3
Saint Mary's
5-1
Cal Poly Men's Basketball Falls to Saint Mary's, 59-54
12/3/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
WATCH GAME HIGHLIGHTS
POSTGAME REACTION: JOE CALLERO | DAVID HANSON | WILL DONAHUE
CAL POLY HONORS 1970-71 NCAA TOURNAMENT TEAM (video)
VIEW 2011-12 CAL POLY MEN'S BASKETBALL VIDEO
2011-12 CAL POLY MEN'S BASKETBALL INFORMATION GUIDE
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Senior forward Rob Jones scored 18 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead Saint Mary's to a 59-54 non-conference men's basketball victory over Cal Poly on Saturday night before 2,878 in Mott Gym.
Freshman forward Brad Waldow added 13 points and junior guard Matthew Dellavedova contributed 10 points for the visiting Gaels (5-1), who stretched their winning streak to three games.
Cal Poly (5-3), which had a three-game winning streak snapped, was led in scoring by senior forward David Hanson (pictured at right) with 15 points, the lone Mustang in double figures. It was Hanson's fifth double-digit game of the season.
Saint Mary's made 48 percent of its floor shots (22 of 46), including four of 15 from three-point range. Cal Poly connected on 40 percent of its field goal attempts (22 of 55), including four of 14 treys.
Rebounds were even at 31 apiece. In addition to Jones' 12 boards, sophomore guard Stephen Holt added six rebounds for the Gaels. Cal Poly was led by junior guard Drake U'u with five caroms.
Both teams turned the ball over 12 times.
Neither team led by more than six points in the first half. A pair of free throws by U'u with 6:47 to play gave Cal Poly a 19-13 advantage and capped an 8-0 Mustang run over 4 1/2 minutes. Saint Mary's only leads of the first 20 minutes of play were at 13-11 and 25-23.
Senior point guard Amaurys Fermin hit a three-pointer at the buzzer as the Mustangs took a 26-25 lead into the lockerroom at halftime.
There were six lead changes in the opening five minutes of the second half before Saint Mary's put together a 9-0 run for a 43-35 cushion with 12:54 to play. A layup by Waldow capped the spurt.
Cal Poly never led again, but closed the gap to 55-54 with 13 seconds to play on a layup by senior center Will Donahue. Sophomore guard Jorden Page hit two free throws with 8.6 seconds remaining and, after a Cal Poly turnover with four seconds left, Dellavedova closed it out with two more throws with 2.8 seconds left for Saint Mary's.
Saint Mary's beat Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo for the first time in six all-time meetings.
At halftime, Cal Poly's 1970-71 men's basketball team was honored.
Coached by Neale Stoner, the 1970-71 Mustangs -- powered by an eight-game winning streak between Jan. 23 and Feb. 13 -- chalked up a 6-2 mark in California Collegiate Athletic Association play to earn the program's first NCAA Division II Tournament berth.
At the West Regional in Tacoma, Wash., Cal Poly – which averaged 82.3 points per contest during the season and broke the 90-point barrier on 10 occasions – dropped its tournament opener against host Puget Sound on March 11, 81-69. The Mustangs, however, rebounded two nights later in the consolation final to edge San Francisco State, 70-68.
Cal Poly breaks for Fall Quarter finals, returning to action next Saturday at San Jose State. It will be a rematch of the Nov. 12 contest in Mott Gym won by the Mustangs 79-52.
