10-11 (3-6BWC)
Hawai'i
16-8 (4-4BWC)
Hawai'i Rallies Down the Stretch to Beat Cal Poly, 59-56
2/5/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
POSTGAME REACTION: JOE CALLERO | REESE MORGAN | RIDGE SHIPLEY
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Sophomore forward Mike Thomas scored 18 points to lead Hawai'i to a 59-56 victory over Cal Poly in a Big West Conference men's basketball game Thursday night before 2,876 in the Mott Athletics Center.
Thomas, the lone double-digit scorer for the Rainbow Warriors, made six of seven floor shots and six of 10 free throws as Hawai'i improved to 16-8 for the year and evened its Big West mark at 4-4. Hawaii beat Cal Poly on the road for the first time in four tries.
Cal Poly, despite having three players in double figures, fell to 10-11 and 3-6, losing its third straight Big West game. Coach Joe Callero's Mustangs have lost six conference games by a total of 28 points.
Junior guard Reese Morgan (pictured at right) came off the bench to score 16 points while sophomore guard Ridge Shipley added 12. Junior forward Joel Awich produced his second career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Both teams turned the ball over 15 times and Cal Poly had a scant 36-35 edge on the boards.
Cal Poly made just one two-pointer in the first half -- a dunk by junior wing David Nwaba -- sinking seven of 14 treys en route to a 28-26 cushion at halftime. The Mustangs' first two-point field goal of the game came with 90 seconds left in the opening half while the second one occurred 7 minutes, 20 seconds into the second half.
Cal Poly still led, however, 42-38 with 10:03 to go in the game on a three-pointer by senior wing Michael Bolden and was ahead 47-46 with 7:21 to play on a three-pointer by Morgan.
Sophomore center Stefan Jovanovic gave Hawai'i the lead for good, 48-47 with a short jumper with 6:59 to go. The Rainbow Warriors never led by more than three points down the stretch, but were able to hold off the Mustangs, who missed their final five floor shots over the final 5:30 of the game.
Neither team led by more than four points over the final 21-plus minutes of the game.
Cal Poly finished hitting 11 of 23 three-pointers for 47.8 percent, second-highest figure of the season, but was just 28 percent overall from the floor, missing 26 of 30 two-pointers. Hawai'i connected on 49 percent of its floor shots (24 of 49), though the Rainbow Warriors were just two of 13 from three-point range.
Shipley had six assists and three steals for Cal Poly while Awich blocked three shots.
Cal Poly concludes its season-long three-game home stand next week with home contests against CSUN on Thursday and Long Beach State on Saturday.
