POMONA¾ Cal Poly Pomona’s men’s
basketball team seemingly had everything working in its favor.
The Broncos were rolling along with a 61-46 lead over UC Davis
with 11:07 to go and appeared to be on their way to another CCAA victory.
Instead, the roof caved in.
The Broncos were outscored 39-10 in the last 11 minutes of the
game and lost to the Aggies, 85-71, Saturday night in Kellogg Gym. Cal Poly
Pomona (15-8, 12-6) saw its advantage over UC Davis for third place in the CCAA
cut to just one game.
UC Davis (14-9, 11-7) got 19 points from Justin Stearns and 14
points from Ryan Moore, who hit all four of his field-goal attempts and all six
of his free throws. The Bronco bench, usually a bright spot for Cal Poly
Pomona, was outscored by UC Davis reserves, 48-12.
Senior guard Lucas LeCour tied a season high with 24 points for
the Broncos. Cal Poly Pomona also got 13 points from freshman forward David
Sybesma and 12 points from senior guard Marques Montgomery. LeCour, who leads
the CCAA in steals, had four steals for the Broncos.
The Broncos were outrebounded by the Aggies, 40-28 and also
missed 12 of 30 free-throw attempts.
Cal Poly Pomona led for the first 34 minutes of the game and
had leads as large as 15 points. When T.J. Williams and LeCour hit 3-pointers
on consecutive possessions, the Broncos had a 61-46 lead. UC Davis, though,
went on a 20-4 run and took its first lead of the game on a 3-pointer by Jess
McElree with 5:10 to go.
Things only got worse from there for the Broncos, who had only
two baskets in the last 11 minutes. A pair of free throws by LeCour go the
Broncos to within 70-67 with 4:09 to go, but the Aggies outscored the Broncos,
15-4 down the stretch. The only points for the Broncos were a drive by
Montgomery and two free throws by LeCour.