Cal Poly Mustangs (12-13, 8-8) @ UC Riverside Highlanders (11-15, 10-7)
San Luis Obispo Tribune
MUSTANGS HEAT UP ON THE ROAD
Cal Poly ventured onto the road last night to take on the University of California Riverside Highlanders. On paper the two teams appeared evenly matched. In their previous game this season the Mustangs prevailed at home but just by 3 points. But the Mustangs had lost 3 of their last 4 games where as the Highlanders had won 3 of their last 4 games and were a game-and-a-half ahead of Cal Poly in the Big West Conference standings.
The Highlanders used the 3 to move out to a 9 point lead early in the game. But the Mustangs came back to get within a single point at the midpoint of the half. Then with 5:42 remaining, Victor Carson took a sharp cross-court pass from Aki Mosley and quickly put up an 18 foot jump shot that settled smoothly between the silks to put the Mustangs on top 31-30. With 2 minutes remaining, Mosley got the ball inside to Donald Blackman who sent it right back to Mosley. Mosley made a nice crossover dribble and got by his man, drove down the lane and kissed a layup off the glass to put Cal Poly ahead 40-36. Coach Aura called a time out with 8 seconds to go and the play he set up worked perfectly as Mosley was able to score on a give-and-go to give the Mustangs a 46-40 halftime lead.
Cal Poly went on an 8-2 run to begin the 2nd half putting them ahead by 12. But UC Riverside quickly cut their lead to just 4 points. The Mustangs stubbornly held the Highlanders from getting closer and then hit shots from all over the court to build their lead to 72-53 with 5:25 remaining. UC Riverside then made a frantic comeback effort that rapidly cut into the Mustangs’ lead, but there just wasn’t enough time left to catch up. Cal Poly came away with a big road win to the tune of 77-71.
Aki Mosley topped all scorers by putting in 19 points. Victor Carson scored 13 points, Denny Grove put in 10 points and Terrell Alexander had 8 points and 7 rebounds filling in for Dean Plowman who injured his leg.
Coach Fred Aura said, “The refs were calling a lot of fouls so both teams went to the line a lot. The Highlanders shot a lot better than us at the free throw line. But we shot extremely well from the field and then had a great run in the middle portion of the 2nd half. That was fortunate since UC Riverside came back so strongly in the final 5 minutes.”