University of California, Riverside
Cal Poly
Highlanders Fall to Mustangs, 66-55
1/4/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Cal Poly Mustangs used a late first half run to take the lead for good to defeat the host UC Riverside Highlanders, 66-55 in a Big West matinee in front of 460 fans at the Student Recreation Center in Riverside Wednesday.
The Highlanders fall to 1-11 overall and 1-1 in the Big West, while Cal Poly improves to 4-8, 2-0.
Mustang forward Gabe Stephenson led all scorers with 18 points and Derek Stockalper added 14. The Highlanders were led by junior guard Dedrick Bates and freshman guard Houston Power who each had nine points. The Highlanders had six players score at least six points. UCR shot 40.7% (22-of-54) from the field and Cal Poly was at 42.6% (23-of-54).
UCR trailed by six at halftime, but Cal Poly came out of the intermission fast and built the lead to 12 at 36-24 with 17:11 left. Poly led by as many as 17 at 58-41 with 6:59 left, but the Highlanders got it back to single digits at 60-51with 2:46 left. However, the Highlanders could get no closer.
The first half started out slowly as both teams struggled with their shooting, combining to hit 5-of-24 in the first 10 minutes of the game as UCR led 9-6. The Highlanders led 21-17 with 2:54 left, but Cal Poly went on a 10-0 run to close out the half and take a 27-21 lead into the intermission. The flurry helped the Mustangs hit 41.7% (10-of-24) from the field in the half, while the Highlanders were at 32.1% (9-of-28).
