The 2011 holiday break wasn’t as merry as it could have been for the Cal Poly men’s basketball team which, after falling to UCSB to start the new year, owns a 9-5 record overall and 0-1 in Big West play.
Dec. 23 at DePaul
A 13-0 run surrendered midway through the first half proved too much to overcome as Big East opponent DePaul outlasted the Mustangs 63-58 in their final game before the break on Dec. 21 at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill.
Junior guard Dylan Royer had a chance to knot the score at 61 with seven seconds to go, but his 3-point attempt found only iron. The Blue Demons recovered the rebound as Cal Poly was forced to foul sophomore forward Cleveland Melvin with 5.4 seconds left. Melvin hit both of his free throws to ice the game and send Cal Poly to its fourth loss of the season.
The Mustangs led 14-9 with over 13 minutes remaining in the first half, but were held scoreless for the ensuing nine minutes and 17 seconds. Senior forward David Hanson ended the drought with a free throw, but the Mustangs wouldn’t see the lead again.
The Blue Demons’ full court pressure stifled the Mustangs’ offense early and throughout, according to head coach Joe Callero.
“We had to take care of the ball,” Callero said. “We knew they were going to come in and press us all night long, and we did a pretty good job with only eight turnovers. What we really struggled with is that in the first half we had about a five minute spurt where we couldn’t score… We made some adjustments and had an opportunity for the game-tying shot in the last possession.”
The Mustangs were within striking distance in the final six minutes as they never trailed by more than five points in the closing minutes of the game. The loss marks the first contest this season that the Mustangs dropped while out-rebounding their opponent, laboring to a 42-36 advantage on the glass for the night.
Hanson finished with 11 boards to go along with his team-high 13 points, his seventh double-digit scoring game of the season.
“We played hard,” Hanson said. “If we had fewer mistakes and fewer turnovers, I think we would have won that game. But my hat’s off to DePaul. They played a good game.”
The Mustangs entered the matchup fifth in NCAA Division 1 allowing only 53.9 points per game, but DePaul found answers to Cal Poly’s defense shooting 42.6 percent from the field.
A win for the Mustangs would have tied a program record for best start to a season since 2001-02. Instead, the team saw its three-game win streak snapped in the hands of its first game against the Big East Conference since a loss to Boston College in 1994.
Senior guard Amaurys Fermin, who matched a career-high with eight assists and scored 11 points, said the Mustangs put in a strong performance, but were simply unable to convert at key stretches of the game.
“We had a bumpy start, but we adjusted and fought throughout the game,” Fermin said. “Shots we normally make didn’t go down, but our offense started to flow near the end of the game. But we just couldn’t make them miss in the end.”
Dec. 10 at San Jose State
The Mustangs swept the season series with San Jose State rolling to a 47-40 victory against the Spartans on Dec. 10 2011 at the Events Center in San Jose, Calif. Senior guard Matt Titchenal registered a career-high 16 points including a 4-for-4 performance from the 3-point line, his first career double-digit game.
Dec. 14 vs. Menlo College
Senior forward Will Taylor scored a career-high 19 points and added a career-tying 13 rebounds as the Mustangs routed NAIA Menlo College 91-58 inside Mott Gym on Dec. 14. Cal Poly had a season-high five players in double-figures, shooting 48 percent from the field as a unit on the day. The Mustangs went on an 18-2 run with five minutes remaining to seal the win. They led by as many as 35 points.
Dec. 17 at Fresno State
The Mustangs capped off their third victory in as many tries by defeating Fresno State for the first time in 41 years at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, Calif. Hanson surpassed the 1,000 point mark for his career, scoring 12 in the game. He is the 18th player to reach the milestone in a Mustang uniform.
Dec. 29 vs. Hope International
Cal Poly won its final non-conference tune-up of the season defeating Hope International 67-61 inside Mott gym. Amaurys Fermin tied a career-high with 17 points to lead the Mustangs in scoring. Hanson registered his second double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Jan. 2 vs. UCSB
Cal Poly lost a second straight heartbreaker in Mott Gym to the Gauchos, but this time it was UCSB’s Orlando Johnson who hit the 3-point dagger that dropped the Mustangs to 0-1 in conference play. Read the full story here.
Callero attests his team’s solid record during the holiday break to its improved ability to handle the ball and battle teams in the low post.
“We were able to confidently handle pressure,” Callero said. “We were confidently able to get inside and score and confidently feel like any given night we can walk in to gyms across America and have them say ‘Hey Cal Poly is here.’ We’re not in to the moral victory point. We know we can play. That’s the mindset we have to have for the program, the players and the coaches.”