By Aaliyah M.E. Murillo, Feb. 22, 2022
Cal Poly Pomona’s men’s basketball team sets their sights on ending their season “in style” as they switch gears to playoffs after coming off an 87-49 victory against Cal Poly Humboldt on Feb. 17.
The Bronco’s opened their match up against Cal Poly Humboldt at tipoff by receiving possession of the ball and sinking a three-point shot from guard BJ Standley — the only shot made by Standley that night.
“We’ve struggled a little bit,” said head coach Greg Kamansky. “Our offense came through. We hit some open jumpers which we struggled with all year.”
Forward Dane Erikstrup, in his first season with the Broncos, made back-to-back buckets followed by guard Phoenix Shackleford’s layup. Combined, the Broncos had 10 points on the board, and Humboldt trailed behind with zero points four minutes into the first half.
Erikstrup and Shackleford were the top scorers of the game, totaling 49 points together. Erikstrup led the game with 27 points and Shackleford followed with 22 points.
“I am usually the second leading scorer, right behind Phoenix,” said Erikstrup. So far, this match has been Erikstrup’s highest scoring game, and he only played 17 minutes.
The Broncos are now at a two-game winning streak for the first time since November and are 11-8 in the CCAA rankings.
“It was a great game,” said Kamansky. “We have not had a nice easy game like that in a long time.”
Although Standley had three points for the game, he totaled five assists with one steal, one of which he passed to guard Christopher Mitchell who followed through with a dunk.
Mitchell was fouled by Humboldt’s Cam Timmons, ruled as a flagrant, and caused a standstill as both the team and crown waited for the referees to settle the ruling on the court.
Guard and forward Tavian Henderson mentioned to Mitchell, “You were supposed to shoot two, regardless.”
Erikstrup agreed, “The ref came back out and said, ‘tell him that we missed him one.’”
Mitchell shot and made one free throw. The Broncos received possession of the ball afterward The referees did not give Mitchell his second free throw for the flagrant and did not clarify as to why.
Cal Poly Humboldt put points on the board four minutes into the first half but continued to trail behind closing out the first half with 17 points, compared to CPP’s 54 points.
The Lumberjacks came out the locker room ready to tackle the 37-point lead the Broncos had.
Forward Tay Aubry-Thomas made four points in the game and caused a frenzy at the Broncos bench after his alley-oop from Standley in the second half.
“It was good to see the players have some confidence and have a little fun out there,” added Kamansky.
The Broncos maintained a steady double-digit lead in the second half. They continuously put points on the board and put up a battle against the Lumberjacks.
Humboldt scored 32 points in the second half but fell short by 38 points as the game closed out 87-49.
CPP must win the remaining games of the regular season to keep their playoff seat.
“They’ve had a lot of adversity over the last couple of years,” said Kamansky. “They’ve been hanging in there.”
The men’s basketball team is scheduled to hit the road as they prepare to take the court against Cal State Monterey Bay on Feb. 24, followed by San Francisco State on Feb. 26.
“Hopefully we could end the last couple games in style,” concluded Kamansky.
Feature photo by Daniel Tapia.
Feb. 23, 2022, 4:18pm: Previously, the Poly Post failed to introduce head coach Greg Kamansky by name in his initial quote. The issue has been corrected.
