By Andrew Sanchez February 17, 2026
The Cal Poly Pomona men’s basketball team came back from a 10-point deficit for a win Feb. 5 against Cal State San Marcos 74-69, after a second half offensive surge.
The second win in a row moves the Broncos to the No. 5 seed in the CCAA conference and improves the Broncos record to 7-8 in CCAA and 12-9 overall
After losing to the Cougars Jan. 20 by 19 points, the Broncos showed up with more tenacity in this game. On offense they shot 54% from the field and 46% from three, an improvement from the season average of32%.
“They really locked in on packing the key and trying to take Kevin (Simeth) out of the game,” head coach Greg Kamansky said. “So, we were making extra passes, getting it out to our guys for open shots.”
The Broncos had four players score in double figures. Junior guard Malcolm Bell led the way with 15 points, Senior guard Demarreya Lewis-Cooper and redshirt junior forward Jake Goldberg both notched 14 points, and redshirt junior forward Michael Saba added 12.
“I think we just came in more hungry,” Lewis-Cooper said. “We knew we needed this for our playoff standing.”
A change in the starting lineup occurred with senior guard Zach Broadous getting the nod in his second game back from injury.
“I tried to bring him back slowly, but we’re in playoff basketball now,” Kamansky said. “Hopefully he stays healthy, and if he’s healthy enough, I’m playing him.”
The Broncos started the game off hot, after senior center Kevin Simeth got an offensive rebound and a putback layup. This kickstarted a 7-0 run to open the game for the Broncos, which was their largest lead of the game.
Forward Remington Rofer ended the dry spell for the Cougars three minutes into the game with a 3-pointer that helped the offense get their feet under them and gave the Broncos pushback. The Cougars were able to capitalize off the Broncos’ turnovers in the remainder of the half by scoring 14 points off of them, compared to the Broncos’ three points off turnovers. San Marcos freshman guard Chris Carrillo also bolstered the lead for his team with seven straight points to end the first half.
The Broncos lead ultimately dissipated after a scoring barrage from the Cougars with 3:36 left in the first half, that saw the lead push to 10 points. This kept the lead out of reach for the Broncos at halftime, as the Cougars led 41-35.
Goldberg opened the second half with six straight points for the Broncos and brought the deficit closer at a score of 47-43. But the Cougars responded, not allowing a Broncos field goal for three minutes.
The field goal drought ended after Bell hit a jumper, which sparked a 10-0 run from the Broncos to retake the lead at 57-56 and forced the Cougars to call a timeout. The game went back and forth for the remainderof the game with three lead changes in the final nine minutes.
“We just try to come into the game confident and impact the game,” said redshirt sophomore forward Edric Dennis.
A tied 64-64 game with three and a half minutes left was broken after Saba hit a midrange shot for the Broncos. Bell was able to run the fastbreak for an emphatic dunk on the following possession to push the lead to 68-64.
Senior guard Keavie Love knocked down two free throws for the Cougars to cut the lead back down to two, but Broadous followed with a layup to push the lead back to four.
Bell then crashed the glass with an offensive rebound for a putback layup to push lead to five with 1:23 left, pushing the lead for the Cougars further out of reach. Broadous nailed the final nail in the coffin with two free throws to notch the final score at 74-69.
The Broncos made 12 3-pointers in this game, which doubled their average of six per game, and made things difficult on defense with seven blocks compared to their season average of two per game.
Redshirt senior forward Dexter Stratton led the way for the Cougars with 16 points, followed by freshman guard Chris Carillo who added 12, despite the loss.
“The reality is every game is a playoff game for us at this point,” Kamansky said. “There’s going to be a lot of tight games down the stretch. So, if we make the right plays and we continue the winning streak, we can make the playoffs.”
With seven games left to play in the regular season, the Broncos sit in the middle of the standings with seeds No.5 to No.10 all within a one win or loss difference of each other, with only the top six teams making the CCAA Tournament.
“We have to focus on keeping it going and keeping the energy that has us playing hard,” Dennis said.
Feature image courtesy of the CPP Athletics
