CALIFORNIA STATE POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY, POMONA

Bronco Sports News

For Immediate Release

Monday, Jan. 12, 2004

Contact: Paul Helms

(909) 869-2812

 

Schedule of upcoming events:


MEN’S BASKETBALL:

at Sonoma State on Friday, Jan. 16 at 7:30 p.m.

at San Francisco State on Saturday, Jan. 17 at 8 p.m.

                                                                                                                                   

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL:

at Sonoma State on Friday, Jan. 16 at 5:30 p.m.

at San Francisco State on Saturday, Jan. 17 at 6 p.m.

                                                                       

 

FOLLOW THE BRONCOS ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB

HTTP://WWW.CSUPOMONA.EDU/~ATHLETIC

 

 

 

MEN’S BASKETBALL: BRONCOS BOUNCE BACK FOR WEEKEND SPLIT

2003-04 Record: 7-4. 2003-04 CCAA Record: 3-3

2003-04 Preseason National Ranking: 5

 

DEFENDING WEST REGION CHAMPS ROLL PAST ANTELOPES: Cal Poly Pomona’s men’s basketball team suffered a disappointing defeat Friday to UC San Diego, but rebounded nicely and rolled past Grand Canyon, Saturday night, at Antelope Gymnasium. The Broncos led from start to finish after scoring the first 10 points of the game. The Broncos led by as many as 13 points in the first half before settling for a 38-27 halftime lead. Grand Canyon was unable to get any closer than seven points in the second half and the Broncos opened up leads as large as 21 points. David Sybesma (Jr., Corona, Corona Centennial HS) led the Broncos with 15 points and five rebounds, while Jeff Bonds (Jr., Compton, Mayfair HS) had 14 points and three rebounds. Jonathan Williams (Sr., Pasadena, John Muir HS) had 10 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals. Michael Ridgway (Sr., Houston, TX, Lamar University) and Guy Beahm (Sr., Willow Glen, West Valley JC) scored eight points each, while Melvyn Nicholson (So., Long Beach, Millikan HS) had seven points, six rebounds and two blocked shots. Cal Poly Pomona shot 50.8 percent from the floor for the game and held Grand Canyon to just 35 percent shooting. The victory was a big one for the Broncos since it came one night after a disappointing 65-64 loss to UC San Diego. The Broncos saw a spirited last-minute rally fall painfully short. The Broncos trailed by eight points in the final minute, but 3-pointers by Williams and Sybesma cut the deficit to two points, 63-61 with 28 seconds to go. Jonathan Boyd (So., Fontana, Etiwanda HS) then made a steal, but had his shot blocked. Bonds came up with the loose ball and got off a shot, which missed although there appeared to be plenty of contact on the play. UC San Diego got the ball out of bounds and later hit two free throws to make it 65-61. A 3-pointer by Bonds cut it to 65-64 with five seconds left and the clock ran out after a pair of missed free throws by the Tritons with 1.7 seconds remaining. UC San Diego shot 43 percent for the game, while the Broncos shot just 38 percent. The Tritons were 10 of 23 from behind the 3-point arc, while the Broncos were only 8 of 25.  The Broncos also missed 10 of 24 free-throw attempts. Bonds had 19 points and eight rebounds to lead the Broncos, while Sybesma had nine points and seven rebounds. Williams had eight points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals, while Beahm had seven points and eight rebounds.

 

BRONCOS WILL BE ON THE ROAD AGAIN THIS WEEKEND: Cal Poly Pomona’s men’s basketball team, the 2003 West Region champs, will face two more tough road contests this weekend. Cal Poly Pomona will be at Sonoma State on Jan. 16 and San Francisco State on Jan. 17. The Broncos’ next home games are set for Friday, Jan. 23 against Cal State L.A. and Saturday, Jan. 24 against Cal State Dominguez Hills.

 

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: BRONCOS STUMBLE AGAINST GRAND CANYON

2003-04 Record: 8-3. 2003-04 CCAA Record: 4-2.

 

BRONCOS HAVE TO SETTLE FOR WEEKEND SPLIT: Cal Poly Pomona’s women’s basketball team, which has won two national championships in the past three seasons, ran into a vastly-improved Grand Canyon squad and came out on the short end of an 84-74 decision Saturday night in Antelope Gymnasium. The loss dropped the Broncos out of a share for first place. Grand Canyon, Cal State Bakersfield and Sonoma State are all tied for first with the Broncos one game back. The Broncos trailed by as many as 10 points in the first half and were down, 36-28, at halftime. Cal Poly Pomona cut the deficit to three points, 44-41, with 14:23 to go, but couldn’t get any closer. Keila Beachem (Sr., Chicago, Ill., University of Kansas) had 19 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Broncos, while Candice Allen (Sr., Ontario, University of Arizona) had 19 points and seven rebounds. Shanika Perkins (So., Oakland, Oakland HS) had 16 points, four rebounds and five steals, while Marisa Lattin (Sr., Oceanside, El Camino HS) had 11 points and two rebounds. The Broncos shot just 37 percent for the game, while Grand Canyon made 56 percent of its shots, including 8-of-15 from behind the 3-point arc. The Broncos held a 38-33 rebounding edge, but committed 28 turnovers. Cal Poly Pomona was more successful on Friday in an 84-81 victory over UC San Diego. The Broncos led virtually from start to finish, although UC San Diego was able to cause some anxious moments for Cal Poly Pomona late in the game. The Broncos led by 11 points at halftime, 48-37, and held leads as large as 14 points in the second half. UC San Diego, though, was able to slice the advantage to two points on four occasions late in the game. Allen had 28 points and five rebounds to lead the Broncos, while Beachem had a season-high 26 points and 11 rebounds. Lattin also had a strong game for the Broncos with 14 points and nine rebounds.

 

ALLEN LEADS NATION IN SCORING; EARNS THIRD PLAYER OF WEEK HONOR: Candice Allen (Sr., Ontario, University of Arizona) received a pair of CCAA weekly honors last Monday. She was named the Wilson CCAA Women’s Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Dec. 29 – Jan. 4 after leading the Broncos to a split against Chico State and UC Davis. She had 40 points in a win over UC Davis and 27 points in a loss to Chico State. For the week, she averaged 33.5 points per game on 60 percent shooting. She also belatedly received the honor for the week of Dec. 15-21 when she was the Most Valuable Player of the CCAA-GNAC Classic. She had 26 points in a win over Western Washington and 32 points in a loss to Seattle Pacific. Allen was also the Player of the Week for the week of Nov. 15-23 and has already earned Player of the Week honors three times. Allen is the leading scorer in NCAA Division II. She is currently averaging 27.1 points per game. .

BRONCOS FACE ANOTHER TOUGH ROAD TRIP: Cal Poly Pomona’s women’s basketball team will play two more tough road games this weekend. The Broncos will be at Sonoma State, which is one of three teams tied for first place in the conference, on Friday. Cal Poly Pomona will also be at San Francisco State on Saturday. Cal Poly Pomona is currently 4-2 in conference play and one game behind tri-leaders Sonoma State, Cal State Bakersfield and Grand Canyon. Cal Poly Pomona will next play in Kellogg Gym on Friday, Jan. 23, against Cal State L.A.

 

MORE NEWS

 

GET ON THE BUS TO BAKERSFIELD: The Cal Poly Pomona Athletic Department is offering fans the opportunity to ride a booster bus to Cal State Bakersfield for the women’s and men’s basketball games at Centennial Garden on Friday, Jan. 30. The bus will depart Cal Poly Pomona at 1:30 p.m. A $40 ticket will include round-trip transportation, a ticket to the games and a pair of receptions in Centennial Garden. The first one will be at 4 p.m. and the second one will be during the men’s and women’s games. Reserve your seat by calling 1-866-CPP-ALUM. Don’t miss the bus!!

 

GOURMET BRONCO CHOCOLATE STILL ON SALE: The Cal Poly Pomona Athletic Department is selling chocolate-covered almonds, toffee-covered peanuts, chocolate-covered raisins and Neapolitan malt balls for $3 per container. Gourmet Bronco Chocolate is high-end chocolate made with the freshest ingredients. Every dollar spent on the products will go toward supporting Cal Poly Pomona sports programs and its student-athletes. For purchase information, contact (909) 869-5342 or email mtolano@csupomona.edu.

 

ANNUAL FUND-RAISING DRIVE CONTINUES: Cal Poly Pomona Athletics is encouraging its supporters to contribute to its annual fundraising drive, which raises money specifically for scholarships. As students face challenging economic times ahead, the Athletic Department wants to respond by making more scholarships available to them. For more information about participating in the fund-raising efforts, please contact Julie Hall, Director of Development for Athletics/Student Affairs, at (909) 869-2825.