By Cesar Rivas, January 20, 2026
Despite a second-half fight from Broncos, bringing the game within five points after being down by 16, the Cal Poly Pomona men’s basketball team dropped its second home game of 2026 against the Cal State San Marcos Cougars with a final score of 79-60.
Despite dealing with numerous injuries this season, it has been a next man up mentality for the Broncos. Head coach Greg Kamansky said he was proud of the way his team battled throughout. Coming into the Jan. 10 game, the Broncos maintained an overall record of 8-5 and a conference record of 3-4. The Cougars had a similar overall record of 7-5, with a conference record of 4-3.
“You know, a lot of guys out there playing minutes they haven’t played in a long time,” Kamansky said. “Half our team is injured, so for what we have out there, I was pretty proud of them for what we were doing.”
The Broncos won the opening tipoff, but it was San Marcos to score the opening basket from a turnover. Guard Asher Schroeder got the Broncos’ first points a minute into match with a jump shot from the left elbow after coming off a screen from forward Kevin Simeth.
After a few traded baskets within the opening minutes, the Cougars went on a 23-6 run, shooting 5-6 from behind the arc. San Marcos guards Aaron Ragen and Chris Carrillo combined for 15 points in the six-minute span.
With just under 10 minutes remaining in the first half, the Broncos were down 18 points with a score of 28-10, but they fought their way back going on a 14-9 run themselves, bringing the score to 39-26.
“We’re still trying to be scrappy,” Simeth said. “Get those rebounds, but we had a few turnovers, and they were able to get a lot of wide-open threes.”
Guard Sam Hunter got the run started with a wide open 3-pointer from the left wing, followed by guard Demarreya Lewis-Cooper driving to the rim, drawing a foul and sank both free throws. A defensive stop from the Broncos allowed for forward Jake Goldberg to drain three free throws when he was fouled behind the 3-point line.
CPP were perfect from the free-throw line in the first half going 7-7, yet despite relentlessly driving to the rim, the Broncos trailed the Cougars 26-42 going into the break.
Simeth was a bright spot in the first half, leading the team with 12 points and five rebounds.
“He’s just getting better and better as we progress,” Kamansky said. “… So, his confidence is really moving forward, but he’s always worked hard, and now he’s just playing with more confidence finishing.”
The Broncos came flying out of the gate to start the second half, as Schroeder nailed a corner 3-pointer right in front of the Broncos bench. The high energy was contagious, as three defensive stops led to a tough lay-up through contact by Goldberg and back-to-back dunks by Simeth.
With that, the lead was cut in half, as the scoreboard read 42-34 with just over 16 minutes left in regulation.
While both sides were trading buckets, the Broncos settled in with their zone defense, forcing San Marcos to take rushed shots as the shot clock ran down.
The momentum still ran with the Broncos, as Simeth was a menace in the paint and on the boards. The pick-and-roll was a key piece of the offense for CPP, as Simeth scored four more points in the paint, followed by another lay-up by Lewis-Cooper to bring the score to 49-44.
“I’m doing my best, just crashing the board, getting an easy bucket,” Simeth said. “Just always going from a roll, you know, pick and roll. Now it’s just going to the paint and playing hard.”
As time dwindled down, CPP kept the deficit under 10 points for a majority of the second half, bringing the game within six points and a score of 57-51 with under nine minutes left to play.
However, the Cougars slowly pulled away as their shots began to fall. As time expired, the final score read 79-60 in favor of San Marcos.
Simeth ended the game with 22 points and nine rebounds, as Schroeder followed behind with 12 points and 10 rebounds. The Broncos now fall to 8-6 in their overall record and 3-5 for their conference record.
“I think that’s what we’re lacking the will to compete right now,” Simeth said. “This team plays hard, and we have to match it and just play even harder than they do if we want to be able to match their energy.”
Feature image courtesy of the CPP Athletics
