The Mustangs had an eight-point advantage in points in the paint in the second half while hitting just four 3-pointers.
“The games (against Riverside) have really become slug fests; tonight was the same thing,” Callero said. Finally in the second half, we got the offense flowing a little bit, and we tried to stay with the same game plan with our man-to-man defense and matchup zone. So, I think our guys really dialed in and really stayed poised in the second half.”
Senior point guard Amaurys Fermin scored in the double-digits just one time in Cal Poly’s last 10 games, but he led all scorers with 16 points in addition to dishing out a game-high four assists. Fourteen of Fermin’s points came in the second half after he said the team rallied during the break.
“You can just see how much more polished and confident (Fermin is), and his leadership on both sides of the court is like having a great quarterback,” Callero said. “That was the best (Fermin’s) played. Right drives, right place, right balance, getting that extra shot and now we expect more from you.”
Senior David Hanson added 12 points on the offensive end and picked up 11 rebounds as the Mustangs dominated the boards, grabbing 38 to the Highlander’s 22.
“(Hanson) kept saying it’s a new half, you know we’re right there we just have to put it together and come out with that same positive energy,” Fermin said.
Building off Hanson’s halftime talk, the Mustangs held the Highlanders without a field goal for the opening six minutes of the second half while a 3-pointer by junior Dylan Royer and a driving bucket by Fermin put Cal Poly back into the game.
The Big West’s leading scorer, the Highlander’s Phil Martin, played all 40 minutes but was held below his average to just 15 points.
Riverside eliminated Cal Poly in the Big West quarterfinals in 2011 when the then-No. 2 seeded Mustangs were forced into overtime by the Highlanders, and former-Mustang Shawn Lewis’ potential game-winning 3-pointer went begging.
The Highlanders took a 34-28 lead into halftime after hitting 51 percent of their shots over the first 20 minutes and drawing fouls on the way to the hoop. Cal Poly did, however, jump out of the gates to take a 5-0 lead after Hanson hit a 3-pointer, one of two Mustang long balls in the first half, but Riverside clawed back with an 8-0 run. The teams exchanged the lead four more times.
Chris Eversley came off the bench and scored eight points in the half, six of which came in the paint, but Cal Poly couldn’t consistently hit shots from mid-range, going 8 of 24 from the field in the half. Although, Eversley noted that the spacing of players beneath the hoop allowed Cal Poly to penetrate the lane in the second half, something the team has struggled to do against bigger opponents all season.
“Everybody is on the same page now,” Eversley said. “Everybody knows where everyone is going to be at the same time.”
Cal Poly faces UC Santa Barbara on Friday night at 9 p.m. in an ESPNU televised game with the winner advancing to the Big West Championship. The Gauchos defeated the Mustangs in both their meetings this season, as they won a tight, back-and-forth matchup in San Luis Obispo and held on for an eight-point win in Isla Vista two weeks ago.
No. 1 seed Long Beach State meets UC Irvine, which upset Cal State Fullerton on Thursday, in the other semifinal.