Cal Poly men’s basketball completed a 14-point comeback to secure a 62-58 win over Pacific University on Monday, Nov. 28 inside Alex G. Spanos Center in Stockton, Cali.
The Mustangs (3-3) led the game for less than 30 seconds, but that was all that was needed to defeat the Tigers (2-5) on the road.
Formerly part of the Big West before jumping to the West Coast Conference, Pacific was the last Big West at-large bid for the tournament in 2005.
The game started off in favor of the Tigers, as they quickly jumped out to an 11-2 lead on the back of an 8-0 run, with six points coming from Luke Avdalovic.
Cal Poly then turned around and brought themselves back into it with a 10-0 run of their own to take a 12-11 advantage, the only lead the Mustangs held until the end of the game.
Pacific then took control of the game, with 9-0 and 9-2 runs late in the first half to give them a nine-point lead into halftime.
Cal Poly shot 2-for-11 from behind the arc in the first half, but their ability to get to the rim effectively kept them in the game.
Pacific started the second half well, taking their largest lead at 14 points with 16 minutes to play, but from there, Cal Poly went to work.
A 12-2 run with 11 minutes to play made it a two-possession game and sent Pacific reeling.
The Tigers kept the Mustangs at bay Cal Poly started a 9-0 run with five minutes to play, capped off by the only three-pointer on the night from junior guard Brantly Stevenson that gave the Mustangs a two-point lead with under three minutes to go.
The teams traded the lead back and forth late, but Cal Poly took it back for good with a Stevenson jumper with 39 seconds left. The Mustangs knocked down their free throws and escaped with a gritty 62-58 victory.
Stevenson had a great night, scoring a career-high 32 points along with eight rebounds off the bench. To back up Stevenson, graduate guard Nick Fleming chipped in 12 points while senior center Alimamy Koroma grabbed six rebounds.
Cal Poly will now look forward to their next matchup against the Pepperdine Waves on Wednesday, Nov. 30 at 7 p.m. inside the Firestone Fieldhouse.