Poly ends season with 30-point loss

Although the Cal Poly men’s basketball team’s fate as a sixth seed in the Big West Conference Tournament was already set heading into its regular-season finale at Cal State Northridge on Saturday night, it couldn’t have fared much worse in its final tune-up.

The Matadors hit 16 of 26 attempts from 3-point territory in front of 1,492 at The Matadome while handing the Mustangs a 97-67 loss, their third defeat of the season by at least 30 points and seventh by no fewer than 20.

Junior guard Deon Tresvant was 8 of 11 from the floor overall and 5 of 7 from 3-point range to finish with a game-high 21 points for Cal State Northridge (20-9, 12-4). Senior forwards Jonathan Heard and Calvin Chitwood chipped in 19 and 17 points apiece, respectively, while junior guard Josh Jenkins made all four of his 3-point attempts on his way to 16 points and a game-high nine assists.

Junior center Titus Shelton led the Mustangs (12-17, 7-9) with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Junior guard Trae Clark (11 points) and freshman guard Shawn Lewis (10) also scored in double figures in the loss.

Cal Poly, which made 16 of its 25 shots before intermission yet just 9 of 35 afterward, was outrebounded 34-31.

The Mustangs took a 21-13 lead on a dunk by senior forward Dreshawn Vance with 10:48 remaining in the opening half but were outscored 30-17 the rest of it. Cal Poly pulled within a point, at 46-45, with 17:34 on a Clark jumper, but Cal State Northridge responded with a 15-2 run over the next two-and-a-half minutes capped by a Heard layup to extend the margin to 61-47.

The Matadors, who distributed 23 assists, shot 59.7 percent from the floor overall.

No one from either team played more than 28 minutes as Cal State Northridge’s reserves outscored Cal Poly’s 52-18.

The Mustangs open the Big West Tournament, held in Anaheim through Saturday, at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday against No. 7 seed UC Riverside.

Cal Poly split the season series with the Highlanders, falling 62-58 on the road Feb. 2 before claiming a 70-63 overtime win at Mott Gym on Feb. 28.