Hawai'i
Second-Half Rally Comes up Short for Cal Poly at Hawai'i
1/16/2020 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
HONOLULU, O'ahu – Freshman guard Colby Rogers (top) led all players with a career high 18 points late Thursday evening, but the Cal Poly men's basketball program – after trailing Hawai'i by 16 points with 15 minutes remaining – fell inside the Stan Sheriff Center, 65-61.
Freshman forward Kyle Colvin added 11 points for Cal Poly (4-13, 1-2 Big West), which trailed Hawai'i (11-6, 2-1), 45-29, five minutes into the second half. With Rogers scoring Cal Poly's first eight points of the second half, however, Cal Poly compiled a 30-13 run during the ensuing 12 minutes to shorten Hawaii's lead to 58-57.
Hawai'i still clung to a 63-61 lead when Rainbow Warriors guard Drew Buggs missed a jumper with 12 seconds to play. Colvin grabbed the rebound, but at the other end of the Stan Sheriff Center, a pass from Mustang junior guard Keith Smith skipped off the hands of junior wing Mark Crowe and out of bounds. With Cal Poly forced to foul to regain possession, Rainbow Warrior forward Eddie Stansberry converted both of his free throw attempts to cement the final scoreline.
Colvin grabbed a team high eight rebounds for Cal Poly, which held Hawai'i to a 32.8 (21-for-64) percent field goal mark. The Mustangs, however, were outrebounded, 47-35, and grabbed just four offensive rebounds to Hawai'i's 15
Cal Poly continues a three-game road trip on Thursday, Jan. 23 at UC Riverside and closes it on Saturday, Jan. 25 at UC Irvine. Both games will be featured on ESPN3 and tip at 7 p.m.
Shooting 50.0 percent from the floor to open Thursday's matchup, Hawai'i kept Cal Poly without a rebound for the first five minutes in creating an early 15-4 lead.
Backboned by five early points from Colvin, however, Cal Poly recovered with a 9-4 run to trim Hawai'i's lead to 19-13 with 10 minutes remaining in the half.
The Rainbow Warriors though responded by keeping Cal Poly without a bucket for an ensuing four-minute span to and stretched their lead to 27-13 six-and-a-half minutes before the break.
Hawai'i led by as much as 36-20 before Cal Poly held the Rainbow Warriors to just a pair of free throws during the final four minutes of the half. Rogers sank a three-pointer at the intermission buzzer to shorten Cal Poly's halftime deficit to 38-29.
Hawai'i notched the first seven points out of the break, keeping Cal Poly scoreless for the opening five minutes. Rogers, however, countered for Cal Poly, scoring his side's first eight points to assist the Mustang comeback attempt.
