7-15 (2-6BWC)
UC Davis
13-9 (5-2BWC)
Cal Poly Men's Basketball Hangs On to Beat First-Place UC Davis, 74-70
2/2/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – Guard Victor Joseph scored 20 points, 16 in the second half and his 11th double-digit scoring game of the season, as Cal Poly, which let a 12-point first-half lead slip away, led for all but one minute in the second half en route to a 74-70 victory over UC Davis in a Big West Conference men's basketball game Thursday night in Mott Athletics Center.
Guard Donovan Fields added 14 points off the bench, his team-leading 14th double-digit scoring game of the year, for the Mustangs, who improved to 7-15 for the season and 2-6 in Big West games. Both of Cal Poly's conference wins -- the Mustangs defeated UC Irvine 79-66 last week -- are against the team in first place at the time of the game.
Chima Moneke tallied 25 points, Brynton Lemar 18 and Lawrence White 10 for UC Davis (13-9, 5-2 Big West).
Cal Poly led 28-16 with 5:16 to go in the opening 20 minutes of play as Fields and guard Kyle Toth hit back-to-back threes, but UC Davis outscored the Mustangs 12-4 the rest of the way to cut Cal Poly's lead to 32-28 at the break.
UC Davis twice held brief leads in the second half, at 38-36 with 16:23 to go on a layup by White and at 63-62 with 2:24 to play on a three-pointer by White.
Forward Luke Meikle gave Cal Poly the lead back, this time for good, with a three-pointer for a 65-63 advantage with 2:05 to go. Moneke's offensive rebound and layup pulled the Aggies to within two at 72-70 with 5.1 seconds left, but Joseph iced the win for Cal Poly with two free throws with 4.1 seconds to go.
UC Davis compiled a 37-27 advantage on the boards, led by Moneke with 13 and White with six. Ridge Shipley and Zach Gordon led Cal Poly in rebounding with five each.
Fields contributed a career-high six assists and Cal Poly tied a season high with eight blocked shots. The Mustangs also blocked eight shots against UTSA and Bethesda. Gordon blocked five Aggie shots before fouling out with 13 seconds to play.
While Cal Poly committed 10 turnovers, none of them came in the final 15 minutes of the game.
Both teams made 25 of 55 floor shots, but Cal Poly was nine of 24 from three-point range while UC Davis connected on just four of 12 from long range.
Cal Poly hosts UC Riverside for another Big West Conference game Saturday night at 7.
Photo of Victor Joseph courtesy of Matt Aguirre
