By Andrew Sanchez March 10, 2026
The Cal Poly Pomona men’s basketball team pulled off an upset win 72-66 against Cal State Dominguez Hills Feb. 26, after a 3-pointer frenzy shooting night.
The win extended the Broncos’ streak to four games straight and improves the team’s record to 11-10 in CCAA and 16-11 overall.
“The guys are excited” head coach Greg Kamansky said. “We’re finally as healthy as we can get. Now, with everyone playing, it reflects on our record and streak, so as long as we stay healthy, I think we’ll be fine.”
The Broncos are now in a four-way tie for the No. 4 seed in the CCAA playoffs, with Cal State Monterey Bay, Cal State San Marcos and Cal State San Bernardino, meaning one of these schools will miss out on the playoffs depending on the results Feb. 28.
After blowing a seven-point, first half lead Dec. 6 in which the Broncos lost 52-43 to the Toros, they made it a point to avoid deja vu against the No. 2 seed who came into the game with a four-game winning streak.
The Broncos led in this one for 34 of the 40 minutes, while making 11 3-pointers, well above their season average of 6.8 a game, and added 19 points off the Toros’ turnovers.
Redshirt junior forward Micheal Saba led the way for the Broncos. He was perfect from downtown, going three for three and recorded 15 points with seven rebounds.
“The coaches and guys trust me, so I just shoot my shots, play my game,” Saba said. “The guys play their game, and we all bounce off of each other well.”
Senior guard Zach Broadous and senior center Kevin Simeth both added 10 points while senior guard Demarreya Lewis-Cooper had eight assists.
The scoring opened with a dunk from Simeth to get the Broncos their first lead, but the Toros retaliated with a 7-0 scoring run that led to their biggest lead of the game.
The Broncos strapped in from there and matched the Toros defensive effort, holding the Toros to a two-and-a-half-minute scoring drought that saw the Broncos push themselves out in front by six with 8:42 left in the first half.
The Broncos went on an 18-5 scoring run for seven minutes, where Saba hit two threes in a row, pushing the Broncos’ lead to the largest of the game at 15 points with 3:13 left.
The Toros responded by holding the Broncos scoreless in the final three minutes of the first half, while ending the first half on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 37-29.
“We put it together in the first half,” Saba said. “The main thing was guys playing for each other. We all wanted it very badly, and we knew it was going to take a war from the guys, and that’s exactly what we brought.”
Junior guard Malcolm Bell opened the second half for the Broncos with a dunk, and the Toros responded by going on a 6-0 run Lewis-Cooper ended with a 3-pointer. The Toros then locked down defensively and held the Broncos without a field goal for five minutes while getting within two points of the lead.
Lewis-Cooper ended the five minute field goal drought with a step-back 3-pointer that ignited a 17-5 scoring run with nine minutes left in the game and extended the Broncos’ lead back to 14.
The Toros then began their own 12-2 run that went on for six minutes and notched the score to 68-62 with three and a half minutes to play.
A dunk from Simeth ended the Toros’ run and allowed the Broncos to begin wasting as much of the time left as they could, while the Toros had back-to-back costly turnovers.
The Toros opted to intentionally foul down six with less than a minute left in the game, which allowed the Broncos to hit four clutch free throws and ultimately cap off an intense battle with a win, despite having 19 turnovers in the game.
“We have got to get better with turnovers, or it’s going to be tough to beat a good team,” Kamansky said. “But we did enough in this one.”
Graduate student guard David Cheatom led the Toros with 21 points, while sophomore guard Luke Lin and senior guard DeSean Stevens added 13 points each.
With one game remaining in the regular season, the Broncos controlled their destiny in a must-win game to make the playoffs Saturday Feb. 28 when they faced the 8-13 Cal State LA.
“We still have one game to go, and I’ve played against LA for 25 years,” Kamansky said. “It’s a tough place to play, so we’re not assuming anything.”
Feature image courtesy of the CPP Athletics
