By Gavin Claiborne, Feb. 4, 2025
Cal Poly Pomona men’s basketball team holds a 5-7 record in the California Collegiate Athletic Association conference after a close but unsuccessful match against the Cal State East Bay Pioneers Jan. 23 and a blowout loss to the San Francisco State Gators Jan. 25.
The Broncos had a slow start against the Pioneers, facing a 13-point deficit. The team’s first points came just seven minutes into the first half after reserve guard Miles Lewis nailed a pair of free throws.
The Broncos narrowed the gap with a pair of free throws from reserve guard Zach Broadous. Then, starting guards Jaden Winfield and Shyheim Parm cut the deficit to 7 points by sinking two 3-pointers with 10 minutes remaining in the half.
Even though the Pioneers followed with a 3-point shot, buckets from forward Sam Hunter, guard Demarreya Lewis-Cooper, center Kevin Simeth and forward Jordan Carpenter kept the Broncos within 10 points by the end of the half 35-25.
Simeth scored the Broncos’ first points of the second half with a layup, which was then followed by jumpers from Winfield and Hunter. With seven minutes remaining, the Broncos were able to rally back and take their first and only lead of the game at 49-48, but the Pioneers weren’t entirely out of energy as both teams exchanged leads. Eight total lead changes happened by the end of the half, but the Pioneers ultimately took hold of the lead with three minutes left to pick up a 65-67 win.
Winfield, Lewis and Broadous all finished the game with double-digit scoring efforts, and Winfield was the game’s leading rebounder with eight boards, three coming from the offensive end.
Broncos head coach Greg Kamansky said he was pleased with the resilience his team displayed through the game’s final stretches.
“Obviously it was disappointing we lost,” Kamansky said. “But we battled. We battled the second half.”
The Broncos had a back-and-forth clash against the Gators in the first half of the contest, but they were also unable to capture a win in this match.
Hunter opened the game by scoring the Broncos’ first basket with a jumper, and the Broncos built up a 7-point lead within five minutes.
The Gators continued to trail closely behind the Broncos and the team eventually took a 2-point lead with about six minutes left in the half.
Simeth tied the game with a tip-in, and Lewis nailed a quick turnaround mid-range jumper, followed by a left-wing 3-pointer to keep the Broncos close at 26-32 at halftime.
The second half appeared to be the downfall for the Broncos as the Gators went on a 14-0 run.
The Broncos were unable to score until seven minutes in when Broadus recorded a putback layup coming off a missed left-corner 3-point attempt from reserve forward Caleb Nelson.
Nelson, Lewis, Broadus and reserve forward Michael Ofoegbu each got going on offense — cumulatively scoring 22 points — but their scoring segment turned out to be a bit too late as the Gators departed with a 48-67 win.
Ofoegbu said one of the biggest challenges his team faced on the road was playing at a high intensity for all 40 minutes.
“I feel like sometimes we have energy drop-offs, which is really not acceptable,” Ofoegbu said. “Just putting together two good halves of basketball and playing an entire game. If we played a full game like that, we’ll win a lot more games.”
Lewis reached double digits consecutively, scoring 10 points off the bench in both games. Kamansky said Lewis’ role as a reserve has “been everything” for the team.
“He’s been a really good spark plug for us,” Kamansky said. “That’s why he’s playing more. He’s moving forward on some stuff, so we’re happy with him.”
When referring to the Broncos’ shooting slump, Kamansky explained in order to become a competitive team in the CCAA conference, the team will need to excel in other facets of the game.
“If you’re a competitor, we’ve got to find another way to win,” Kamansky said. “And that means doing the little things, like rebounding, not turning the ball over and finishing layups. Just little things like that.”
Feature image courtesy of Christian Magdaleno
