Dec. 28, 2002

Box Score

Moraga, CA - The Saint Mary's College men's basketball team suffered is second straight home loss, this time to the Cal Poly Mustangs, 59-52, on Saturday night. Varnie Dennis paced the Mustangs with a game-high 20 points, while Chase Poole tallied 16 points to lead the Gaels. With the loss SMC falls to 5-5 and Cal Poly improved to 4-5 overall on the season.

The game started with Cal Poly opening a 14-4 advantage just four minutes into the game. The Mustangs would then extend the lead to 21-9, before an 11-0 run for the Gaels cut the lead to 21-20, on two free throws by Frederic Adjiwanou with 8:36 remaining until the intermission.

After Poole's dunk with 9:31 remaining in the half, the Gaels would go cold from the floor. SMC converted 9-of-15 shots from the free throw line, its only scoring the final 9:31 of the first half. Cal Poly would use a 19-7 run over that span to take its largest lead of the game, 40-27, into the locker room.

Saint Mary's would cut into the 13-point halftime lead and trail 43-39 with 10:34 remaining in the game. Cal Poly would extend its lead to eight points (51-43) before SMC got within two (54-52) with just over a minute remaining. Following a missed layup by Daniel Kicker, Cal Poly scored the final five points of the game from the free throw line to ice the contest.

Saint Mary's held Cal Poly to just 19 total points in the second half, but could only manage 25 points against the Mustang defense. The Gaels held Cal Poly to 26.7 percent shooting in the second half, but a 55.2 percent first half shooting mark by CP helped them finish at 45.5 percent for the game. Saint Mary's shot 39.0 percent from the floor , while making 2-of-13 shots from three point range.

En route to his 16-point performance, Poole converted 7-of-11 shots from the floor. Kickert, who scored 12 points, was 2-of-3 from the floor and 8-for-10 from the line and Tyler Herr chipped in with 10. Cal Poly's Jason Allen also scored in double figures with 16 points on 3-of-8 shooting from the floor while going 8-of-10 from the line.

Saint Mary's will return to the hardwood on Monday, December 30 when it host Brown University. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:05 PM in McKeon Pavilion.