9-6, 0-2BWC
Long Beach State
9-6, 2-0BWC
Men's Basketball Pushes Long Beach State to Brink, Falls Late, 55-50
1/5/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
POSTGAME REACTION: JOE CALLERO
GAME HIGHLIGHTS
VIEW 2011-12 CAL POLY MEN'S BASKETBALL VIDEO
2011-12 CAL POLY MEN'S BASKETBALL INFORMATION GUIDE
LONG BEACH, Calif. – Senior forward Will Taylor finished with a team-leading 16 points and eight rebounds on Thursday evening, but the Cal Poly men's basketball program missed a pair of potential game-tying three-pointers inside the final seven seconds and fell against Long Beach State at the Walter Pyramid, 55-50.
Senior forward David Hanson added 11 points during the second half for Cal Poly (9-6, 0-2), which trailed with two minutes to play, 50-46. After Cal Poly's defense suffocated the 49ers (9-6, 2-0) into a shot clock violation, Taylor (above, center) nailed a jumper to draw the Mustangs within two points of the Long Beach State lead.
Long Beach State freshman guard Mike Caffey hit just one of two free throw attempts during the ensuing possession and with 29 seconds remaining at the other end of the court, Hanson spun off the right block for a layup that cut Cal Poly's deficit to one.
A Mustang foul on the inbounds sent reigning Big West Conference Player of the Year selection Casper Ware to the free throw line and Long Beach State's senior guard knocked down both of his attempts. Cal Poly, however, saw senior guard Amaurys Fermin and Taylor miss successive three-pointers from opposite corners during the dying seconds as the Mustangs suffered a second-successive loss for the first time this season.
Sophomore guard Chris Eversley matched a career high with seven rebounds for Cal Poly, which returns to the central coast to host Cal State Fullerton on Saturday, Jan. 7 at 7 p.m. The Titans (10-4, 2-1) fell at UC Santa Barbara earlier Thursday, 77-64.
Cal Poly forced Long Beach State into five turnovers during the first five minutes and, courtesy of three Taylor jumpers, the Mustangs claimed an early 13-4 lead. Held to just one Eversley putback during the ensuing six minutes, however, the Mustangs watched as Long Beach State compiled a 12-2 run to take its first lead of the night at 16-15 six-and-a-half minutes prior to the break.
A slashing layup from Mustang junior guard Drake U'u drew the Mustangs to within a point of the Long Beach State lead at 20-19 two-and-a-half minutes before halftime, but Ware drained a three-pointer during the next possession to provide the 49ers their largest lead of the opening half. The Mustangs, however, received successive layups from sophomore guard Maliik Love and Fermin to deadlock the scoreline and trailed by just two points at the break after Ware sunk a pair of late free throws.
The opening four minutes of the second half witnessed a pair of lead changes and three deadlocked scorelines before Ware created some breathing room for the 49ers with a floater off the baseline and a three-pointer to hand Long Beach State a 34-29 advantage. The Mustangs quickly reeled the 49ers back in through layups from Fermin and Hanson but it wasn't until U'u slid another slashing layup through the net that the Mustangs reclaimed a narrow lead at 41-40 with eight minutes to play.
