The Cal Poly men’s basketball team clinched the number two seed in the Big West tournament after a 1-1 weekend in Southern California. After losing to Long Beach State, their 75-70 victory over Cal State Fullerton on Saturday helped the Mustangs move to 15-13 on the season and 10-5 in conference.
The 10 Big West wins tied the Division I program high for conference victories in a season.
The Mustangs battled conference-leading Long Beach State on Thursday but fell 61-55 as the 49ers clinched the regular-season conference title.
The team took the lead in the final stretches of the game as the teams exchanged 11 one-point leads in the final minutes. Guard Shawn Lewis put the Mustangs up two-points with his third 3-pointer of the night with 4:30 remaining. Lewis had been held scoreless through much of the second-half.
However, 49ers rallied in the final four minutes working their way to a six-point lead. Guard Chris O’Brien scored a career-high 16 points for the Mustangs while guard Maliik Love put up 10 of his own.
The team then traveled to Fullerton for an ESPNU televised matchup with the Titans. Under the spotlight, forward David Hanson registered 25 points after going through a brief shooting slump.
Hanson found his touch from long range hitting 6-of-11 from behind the arc. Lewis added 17 points of his own to push the Mustangs one game closer to the Big West tournament.
Eleven of Lewis’ 17 points came from the free-throw line as the long Mustang senior shot just under 19 percent from inside the arc while being held scoreless of five attempts from 3-point range.
If the current standings hold, the team would find themselves facing the Titans again in the first round of the Big West tournament in Anaheim on March 10.
The Mustangs look to add a record-setting 11th win in Santa Barbara on Saturday night while avenging their heartbreaking loss against the Gauchos earlier this season.