POMONA – In a battle of the two of the nation's top five defensive teams, it was the Cal Poly Pomona Broncos (9-3, 5-2 CCAA) defeating the visiting SF State Gators 64-32 at Cal Poly Pomona's Kellogg Gymnasium. Terrence Drisdom paced the Broncos with 13 points while recording four steals and grabbing 8 rebounds for the victors.
"We struggled offensively tonight and had way too many turnovers," said SF State head coach
Paul Trevor. "Cal Poly Pomona is a very good team, but we need to get better." "We played a lot of guys tonight and we need to get right back at it tomorrow night at UC San Diego."
The Broncos, who lead the CCAA in scoring defense and are fourth in the nation, held their guests to just 30% shooting from the field including just 6% from three-point range. Cal Poly Pomona also forced 16 turnovers and had 9 steals. The hosts out-rebounded SF State 40-26 including grabbing 15 offensive rebounds, which led to their 20 second chance points.
Cal Poly Pomona jumped out to a 19-2 lead in the first ten minutes of the game with
Floyd Wormley scoring the Gators' only bucket at the 17:02 mark.
SF State (6-5, 4-3 CCAA) went on an 11-2 run in the next six minutes to cut the deficit to 21-13 capped by a
Jon McMurry lay-up.
A Drisdom lay-up on the Broncos' next possession gave the hosts back their double-digit lead, 23-13.
Derrick Brown connected on a lay-up on one of
Bren Haley's four assists to cut the Gator deficit to 23-15.
The Broncos finished the half outscoring the Gators' 6-1 to take a 29-16 lead into the locker room.
Cal Poly Pomona continued its run in the second half scoring the new stanza's first 10 points to take a 39-16, a lead the Broncos would not relinquish.
It looked like the Gators were coming back as they scored the next four points on back to back lay-ups by
Udun Osakue and
Chiefy Ugbaja to cut the Bronco lead under 20, 39-20.
The Broncos then went on a 16-3 run to take a 55-23 lead with just 4:44 to go in the game as they cruised to the 64-32 CCAA home victory.
Ugbaja paced the Gators (who are second in the CCAA and fifth in the nation in scoring defense) with 8 points off the bench while
Nick Calcaterra and
Floyd Wormley each chipped in 7 points.
With the win, Cal Poly Pomona moves into a tie for first place in the conference with Sonoma State and Cal State Stanislaus. SF State falls into a four-way tie for fourth place with UC San Diego, Chico State and Cal State San Bernardino.
The Gators will continue their four-game road trip tomorrow evening in La Jolla, Calif., for a 7:30pm tip-off with UC San Diego at RIMAC Arena. The Tritons defeated Sonoma State this evening 63-57 in La Jolla.
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Gator Athletics has a proud tradition of competitive success within the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The department offers 12 intercollegiate sports programs: Baseball, Men's and Women's Basketball, Men's and Women's Cross Country, Men's and Women's Soccer, Softball, Women's Track & Field, Women's Volleyball and Men's Wrestling.
Gator Athletics places great emphasis on academic performance as well as athletic achievement. The program offers student athletes the opportunity to reach their educational goals, as well pursue meaningful athletic accomplishments. For m
