After tying the game with seconds to go, senior guard Shawn Lewis’ final home game of his career was spoiled as guard Cameron Jones hit the game winner for Northern Arizona last Saturday night.
Despite the painful loss in his farewell to his homecourt, Lewis made history within the walls of Mott Gym, elevating himself to the seventh highest scorer in Cal Poly’s history with 1,233 career points and leading the team to second place in the Big West.
And if Cal Poly wants to get past top-seeded Long Beach State, the Mustangs may need another big game from their lone senior. The Cal Poly men’s basketball team (14-12, 9-4 Big West) will travel to Long Beach to contend with the 49ers (17-10, 11-2) for first place in the Big West tonight.
Junior forward David Hanson, who spent the last three years on the team with Lewis, said he is one of the most valuable assets to the team.
“Words don’t do the value that he brings to the team,” Hanson said. “He’s been huge for us all year. He has been fantastic not only (on Senior Night), and this year, but his whole career.”
But what has been a scoring-filled final season for Lewis hit a bit of a hiccup last time Cal Poly played Long Beach State. These two teams last faced each other during the first conference game of the season in which Long Beach State beat Cal Poly 69-53, and Lewis scored just seven points.
But a lot for Lewis — and Cal Poly — has changed since then.
The Mustangs have seen major contributions from Lewis, who has scored 20 or more points in the last 10 games. Lewis, who was shooting 32 percent the first half of the season, shot 49 percent during that 10-game stretch.
Confident in both himself and his team, Lewis said he knows they will perform better the second time around.
“With Long Beach, it was the first game, and we didn’t really know what they were about,” Lewis said. “But now I think we have a good mindset of how we are going to play them. It’s going to be a good game since we’re both fighting for that top spot.”
When they last met, the Mustangs led the conference defensively, holding opponents to 40 percent shooting and just 57.9 points per game. But, they also were last in the league in scoring and field goal percentage, with only 56 points per game on 36.7 percent shooting.
Since then, Cal Poly has averaged 67 points per game on 44.8 percent shooting in their last eight games, while remaining No.1 in the Big West in field goal defense, 3-point defense and opponent points per game. During those last eight games Cal Poly went on a six-game winning streak, which was sandwiched between buzzer-beating losses to UC Santa Barbara and Northern Arizona.
Despite maintaining their defense, Cal Poly will have to contend with Long Beach State’s conference-leading offense. The 49ers currently lead the Big West offensively with 75.8 points per game on 48.3 percent shooting.
A win for the Mustangs would bring them within one game of No. 1, and their first regular season championship.
Head coach Joe Callero said he is proud of everything his team has accomplished this season, and before they start thinking about the Big West Tournament, they need to focus on first place.
“We’ve obtained most of our goals already for the season,” Callero said. “We wanted a winning record at home, and we’ve done that. We wanted to split our road games, and we’ve already won four. Now we’re competing for a number one spot.”
Junior center Will Donahue said though Cal Poly has improved, he expects Long Beach State to be an even tougher team now.
“We’ll be a stronger team for sure the second time around, but they are going to be a stronger team as well,” Donahue said. “We’ll see who put in more work during the season.”
If Long Beach State defeats Cal Poly, they would clinch the first seed in the Big West Tournament.
The game will take place tonight in Long Beach at 7 p.m.
— J.J. Jenkins contributed to this article