Ryan ChartrandDerek Stockalper lowered his head, raced downcourt past two Pacific defenders and leapt toward the basket with the ball extended in his right hand before throwing down a one-handed slam dunk.
And he did all that with gauze in his mouth after one of his teeth had gone through his lower lip earlier in the second half. The gutsy performance helped the Cal Poly men’s basketball team to an 82-70 Big West Conference win over visiting Pacific on Saturday in a Senior Day regular-season finale in front of a sellout crowd of 3,032 in Mott Gym.
“It feels like a bomb just blew up in my mouth,” Stockalper joked in the locker room after the game before leaving to get stitches.
A bomb did go off on the possibility of Cal Poly having to play Thursday in the Big West Tournament.
With the win, the Mustangs (18-10, 9-5 Big West) secured the No. 2 seed in the Big West tourney – which runs Wednesday through Saturday at the Anaheim Convention Center – and earned an automatic trip to Friday’s semifinal round.
Cal Poly, which has won seven straight and 12 of its last 14 games, extended its record of wins in a season since moving to the Division I level for the 1994-95 season. The Mustangs also clinched their best Big West winning percentage ever and are assured of their best overall record since going 19-9 at the Division II level in 1991-92.
“Going out with a win on Senior Night, 18-10, the best (Division I) record Cal Poly’s ever gotten, No. 2 seed, it all came together tonight,” Stockalper said. “Chaz had a giant game for us.”
Indeed, sophomore point guard Chaz Thomas came off the bench to contribute 19 points, two assists and team-highs of six rebounds and four steals in 22 minutes.
“We wanted it so bad, we wanted the second seed,” Thomas said. “We’re only two games away (from the NCAA Tournament). That’s our goal right now.”
Pacific head coach Bob Thomason took notice of Thomas’ play.
“I thought Chaz Thomas was the difference in the game,” Thomason said. “He made big shots.”
Stockalper led all scorers with 25 points on 9-for-12 shooting, including a 4-for-7 mark from 3-point range. Dawin Whiten added 16 points for the Mustangs, who shot 70.8 percent from the floor in the second half and 51.9 percent for the game.
A wild celebratory scene ensued after the game in which players stood opposite the scorer’s table high-fiving fans and saluting a raucous contingent of Mustang Maniacs, who also surrounded head coach Kevin Bromley after storming the court.
“They’ll remember that the rest of their life,” Bromley said of seniors Stockalper, Tyler McGinn and Joe Henry. “It’s like having children – you get so proud of them.”
McGinn had five points, two boards and a steal.
“It’s definitely the best game I’ve been a part of,” McGinn said. “It feels good. We’re the No. 2 seed.”
Before tip-off the team went through Senior Day ceremonies, in which the three seniors were presented a framed picture of themselves and they and their family along with Bromley at halfcourt received a standing ovation from the crowd.
But things got off to a rocky start for Cal Poly, with Pacific getting off to leads of 5-0 and 21-13. Then things fell apart for the Tigers (11-18, 5-9), who surrendered a 12-2 run.
Cal Poly then outscored Pacific 53-37 in the second half.
“They just kept on doing the same stuff,” Thomason said of the Mustangs. “You’ve got to be tough in the second half to play in this conference or (elsewhere) in Division I. We just haven’t been tough all year.”
Cal Poly is tough to beat when it hits its free throws, as evidenced by Saturday’s game. The Mustangs shot 17 of 19 from the free-throw line, a big contrast from their clip of .623 entering the game – last in the Big West.
“It’s big,” Thomas said of the foul shooting. “We were in the gym after the last game shooting free throws.”
All five of the Mustangs’ starters average at least 8.8 points per game, but none more than 14.5 (Stockalper).
“That’s great for our team confidence,” McGinn said. “We know that not one person is the deciding factor. It’s a good feeling.”
The feeling in the locker room after the game was jovial.
“We just jumped up and down and danced a little bit,” Bromley said. “They laughed because I said, ‘OK, we’re not practicing until Thursday. See ya Thursday,’ and walked out. They thought that was great.”
In all seriousness, Cal Poly will resume practice today, keeping its normal schedule, Thomas said. Bromley said the Mustangs will then head to Anaheim on Thursday.
“We just made it a little bit easier on ourselves,” Bromley said. “We won’t go down (to Anaheim) until Thursday. We’ll practice here, go down Thursday, see who we’re gonna play, do some walk-through stuff and be ready to go Friday.”
Cal Poly snapped an eight-game losing streak to Pacific, which it had not beaten since Feb. 15, 2003.
“We’re still playing the same we’ve played the last few weeks at home,” Stockalper said. “I don’t think it really has to do with Pacific or anything. We’re just playing good basketball right now. It doesn’t matter who we play.”
Stockalper said playing in Mott Gym for the final time was something he pondered beforehand.
“The last couple weeks, it kind of hit me – these are the last college games I’m gonna play, so if I’m going to have anything to say about it, I’m going to try to put my hands on it.”
That he did, and now here the Mustangs are – two wins away from reaching the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history.
“Two more and we’re there,” Stockalper said. “It’s crazy to think about. We’re in the semis already of the conference tournament. That’s awesome.”