Ryan Chartrand
A crowd of 2,421 tasted a basketball treat much sweeter than chocolates this Valentine’s Day on Wednesday night as the Mustangs (13-10, 5-5 Big West Conference) completed the sweep of the UCSB Gauchos (15-8, 6-4) at Mott Gym.
The game was the ultimate highlight reel loaded with dunks, alley-oops and 3-pointers. Five Mustangs reached double figures while four Gauchos hit the deuces. Assists outnumbered turnovers for the Mustangs 19-7, resulting in an offensive extravaganza.
Cal Poly head coach Kevin Bromley said, “When you have good 3-point shooters, you kind of have to let them shoot it.”
Shoot it they did.
The Mustangs salivated during warm-ups while the rowdy Mustang Maniacs egged on their hunger. Poly has not swept the Gauchos since 1998 and tonight marked a gleaming opportunity. The game cracked open with excitement.
Junior guard Dawin Whiten popped a 3-pointer in the first possession and hit another within the first four minutes. UCSB senior guard Cecil Brown answered with two 3-pointers as well in the opening minutes of the half.
The Gauchos pulled to a 13-6 lead before the first timeout, but the Mustangs came out strong after the break. Sophomore guard Trae Clark hit a 3-pointer the first possession and then dropped a dime off to senior forward,Dreshawn Vance who completed with a gnarly dunk.
A Poly seven-point run led to a 13-13 lockup. The Mustangs forced two successive shot clock violations mid-half; that along with great shooting led Poly to a 26-25 lead at the seven-minute mark. This advantage held for the rest of the contest. Sparked by the hustle play of sophomore guard Chaz Thomas, Poly closed the half with an 11-point run littered with 3-pointers and Gauchos turnovers. The clock read 45-35 at halftime. Combined, both teams hit more 3-pointers, 15, than regular field goals, 14. The Gauchos shot 60 percent from the arch and 50 percent overall while the Mustangs hit 47.4 percent of their 3s and 47.2 percent overall.
“We’re absolutely terrific offensively right now,” Bromley explained.
The second half opened with as much action as the first. Both teams exchanged buckets early on but the Mustangs lit up the crowd as Clark assisted senior forward Tyler McGinn to an and-1 ally-oop. UCSB made its final attempt at a comeback with a seven-point run mid-half but it was all Mustangs thereafter. Both squads exchanged 3-pointers possession by possession for quite some time but Poly free throws kept the Mustangs on top. Gauchos freshman guard James Powell pestered the Mustangs, hitting three 3-pointers in the last four minutes. His efforts failed as Poly closed out the sweep with a 86-79 victory.
Mustang senior guard/forward Derek Stockalper and Gauchos junior guard Alex Harris both led their squads with 19 points. Clark and Gauchos freshman guard Justin Joyner led their teams with assists with nine and six, respectively. Stockalper also led his team in boards with seven, while junior forward Chris Devine brought down eight for the Gauchos. The Mustangs shot 51.9 percent from the field and 50 percent from the 3-point line for the game while the Gauchos hit 52.7 percent from the field and 45.8 percent from behind the arch.
Bromley said preparation will be routine for the upcoming Portland State game, as the Mustangs will go over match ups, lift weights and end with a mean practice before Saturday.
Poly hosts the non-conference ESPN bracket-buster contest in Mott Gym at 4 p.m. Saturday.