1-1,0-0Big West
Pacific Lutheran
0-0,0-0NWC
Career Nights by Ward and Mousa Lead Cal Poly to Home Opener Win
11/5/2025 10:34:00 PM | Men's Basketball
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — A pair of career-highs by sophomore guards Cayden Ward and Hamad Mousa and a second half offensive surge led the Cal Poly men’s basketball team to a 101-79 win in its home opener over Division III Pacific Lutheran Wednesday night inside Mott Athletics Center.
Ward led the Mustangs (1-1) with a career-high 26 points and eight rebounds. Mousa, a transfer from Dayton, finished with a double-double of 23 points and 12 rebounds. Sophomore guard Peter Bandelj added 16 points on 7-11 shooting as the other Mustang in double figures. As a team, Cal Poly shot 46 percent from the field.
Pacific Lutheran, from Tacoma, Wash., had four players score in double figures, led by Henry Smith’s 18. They knocked down 14 threes on the night, including eight in the first half to keep themselves in the game.
Peter for 3?!#RideHigh pic.twitter.com/wsNvjXfc7C
— Cal Poly Men’s Basketball (@calpolymbb) November 6, 2025
It was a tightly contested first half, with the Mustangs leading by just five over Pacific Lutheran at halftime. Cal Poly scored 60 second half points, marked by two big runs: a 9-0 run to go up 60-41 and a 13-0 run to make it 92-69 with four minutes left.
With the Mustangs leading by 19 with 16 minutes left in the second half, Pacific Lutheran got back within as little as nine with eight minutes to play, 74-65. A big run followed by Cal Poly, mostly on the scoring of Ward and Mousa to stretch the lead to as much as 24 and put the game out of reach.
Cal Poly will now spend the next three weeks on the road as they begin a six-game road trip. That stretch starts Saturday, Nov. 8 when the Mustangs head to face Seattle University. Tip is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN+.
