14-12 (9-4)
Northern Arizona
16-10 (7-6)
Mustangs Fall on Buzzer Beater in Home Finale, 59-56
2/19/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – Senior guard Shawn Lewis registered a game-high 25 points and sunk a three-pointer with 11 seconds remaining to square the Cal Poly men's basketball team's Saturday evening ESPN Sears BracketBuster contest versus Northern Arizona, but Lumberjack guard Cameron Jones converted his only three-pointer in nine attempts as time expired inside Mott Gym to deliver the visitors a 59-56 victory.
Playing his final regular season game inside Mott Gym, Lewis – ranked No. 7 in Cal Poly program history with 1,233 career points – sunk a three-pointer with 18 seconds to play to cut Northern Arizona's lead to 54-53. After Lumberjack guard Gabe Rogers converted a pair of free throw attempts moments later, Lewis (above) deadlock the scoreline at 56-56 with his third three-pointer of the night. On the ensuing possession, however, Northern Arizona guard Eric Platt found Jones, who dropped Cal Poly to 3-2 all-time in ESPN BracketBuster contests.
In a matchup that pitted the nation's leaders for third-point field goal defense (Cal Poly) and three-point percentage (Northern Arizona), the Mustangs held the Lumberjacks to a 30.0 (6-for-20) percent mark from beyond the arc – a figure 14.3 points below Northern Arizona's Division I-leading average entering play.
Junior forward David Hanson finished with 10 points and junior center Will Donahue snatched a team-leading nine rebounds for Cal Poly (14-12, 9-4 Big West Conference), which trailed at the break, 27-23, before recording the first seven points of the second half. A Donahue layup eventually furthered Cal Poly's lead to 39-31 with 14 minutes to play, but three-successive three-pointers by Platt during the ensuing three minutes helped swing the advantage toward Northern Arizona (16-10, 7-6 Big Sky Conference) for the remainder of the night.
A Lewis layup three minutes from the final buzzer tied the matchup at 50-50, but a layup by Jones and two Rogers free throws provided Northern Arizona a four-point cushion with one minute, 50 seconds to play.
Cal Poly, currently in second place in the Big West standings, returns to conference play at league-leading Long Beach State (16-10, 11-2) on Thursday, Feb. 24. Opening tip at the Walter Pyramid is scheduled for 7 p.m. for Cal Poly, which, having already secured a spot in the March 10-12 Big West Tournament, plays its final three regular season conference contests on the road.
