Hawaii Rainbow Warriors (3-22, 3-13) @ Cal Poly Mustangs (17-9, 14-3)
KCPR—Cal Poly radio station (excerpts of game play-by-play broadcast)
*When we played Hawaii on their court and beat them 83-77, they were winless. Since then they’ve won 3 games including a recent victory at home over UC Santa Barbara and a road win over Cal State Bakersfield. That’s got them out of last place, a game ahead of Cal State Bakersfield. The Mustangs should knock them off tonight, unless the Rainbow Warriors’ 1-2-2 zone defense gives Cal Poly problems….or the nagging injuries to Derrick LaLane, Bryan Taylor, and Donald Brown result in the rest of the team getting fatigued.
*Hawaii has a reasonably big group of fans at tonight’s game. But that’s not unusual. Many of their alumni reside in California and they’re extremely loyal and supportive.
*The tap goes to Hawaii. They get off a quick shot, but it’s off the mark and the ricochet goes off the fingertips of a Hawaii player and out of bounds. The Mustangs will inbound the ball for their first possession of the game.
*Cal Poly swings the ball back and forth across the court. Mosley takes a shot, but it’s blocked! Hawaii wins the scramble for the ball.
*Don Seals hits a jumper from the left of the key and Cal Poly draws first blood.
*Time out on the floor with the Mustangs on top 6-5 after just over 4 minutes of play.
*With the score 10-7 in favor of Cal Poly, Coach Aura has subbed in Collier and Boykin in place of Seals and Pearson. Those two had scored 8 of the Mustangs’ 10 points.
*12-7, but tough break for Cal Poly. Terrell Alexander picks up his 2nd foul with 13-1/2 minutes left in the half. Bryan is coming onto the court to replace him.
*Now Richard Lawson will join Alexander on the bench with 2 fouls. Ed Tenys replaces Lawson. Hawaii’s Erik Stanley sinks both free throws narrowing the gap to 17-10 with 11-1/2 minutes until halftime.
*Wow. The refs are making it tough for the Mustangs. That foul on Tenys puts the Rainbow Warriors on the line with a bonus. Steve Wilson’s free throws make it 20-16 with 9:33 on the clock.
*Mosley works the ball inside to Seals. Seals backs against Hall toward the basket, fakes to his right and turns and cuts to the basket and jams it home giving the Mustangs their first double digit lead at 32-22. That brought the home crowd to life.
*As the fouls pile up, the deep end of the Coach Aura’s bench is getting a lot of playing time early in this game. Hawaii’s scored 15 of their 24 points at the line.
*That’s the end of the first half. Cal Poly leaves the court with a 36-28 lead. The Mustangs will need to keep their players out of foul trouble in the 2nd half. Hawaii hit just 6 of 21 shots from the field in the first half, but stayed in the game by getting to the foul line and 4 of the Mustangs players have 2 fouls apiece with 2 of their starters playing very little thus far.
*No! Even though Hawaii’s 3 point shot missed, Alexander was called for his 3rd foul just 27 seconds into the 2nd half. Alexander hasn’t played enough tonight to work up a sweat. Howard will go to the line for 3 shots and Alexander troops back to the bench. Coach Aura is jawing away at the refs.
*The refs certainly didn’t put their whistles aside during halftime. Lots of fouls already in the 2nd half against both teams.
*Bryan Taylor sneaks inside and flips the ball up underhanded to avoid hte outstretched arm of a defender. It’s good! 51-37 in favor of Cal Poly with 13:24 to play.
*Taylor now drills a 3. That’s 11 points for him and a 17 point lead for the Mustangs.
*The Mustangs are lighting it up in the 2nd half. Collier hits one to make it 59-39 with 10-1/2 to go.
*PF Rodney Boykin is getting some serious game time and he’s showing what he can do. He’s already got 6 points and 6 boards. That’s good news for next season.
*The Mustangs worked the shot clock down but got Alexander free with one second on it. His jumper makes it 71-50.
*Don Seals looks to be on a mission tonight. He hit another one…sweet turn-around jumper from 14 feet.
*The buzzer sounds. Cal Poly polishes off the Rainbow Warriors by a 75-50 score. I’ll be right back to let you know who were the top scorers for the Mustangs.
*Welcome back, Mustangs fans. Leading the scoring tonight was C Don Seals with 20 points and he also pulled down 6 rebounds during his 24 minutes of playing time. The only other player to score in double figures was SG Bryan Taylor with 11 points. But 10 of the Mustangs 12 guys who played scored tonight and the bench contributed 35 points. The only Rainbow Warrior to score in double figures was SF Erik Stanley with 19 points. No one else for Hawaii had more than 7 points. Cal Poly’s 2nd half defense limited Hawaii’s shooting for the night to 29%. The Mustangs were also +11 on the boards.
*That win assured the Mustangs of at least a tie for the Big West title. UC Santa Barbara is 3 games back and would have to win all their remaining games while Cal Poly lost all theirs for there to be a tie for first place.