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The Cal Poly Pomona men's basketball team, coming off an appearance in the NCAA national championship game a year ago, is ranked No. 4 in the 2009-10 Division II Bulletin Preseason Top 25 poll that was released this week.

The ranking comes a day after the Broncos received a No. 9 ranking by The Sporting News.

Cal Poly Pomona, which finished last season 25-8 and played for the national title in Springfield, Mass., earned its first preseason ranking since opening the 2005-06 season No. 15 (NABC) and 13th (Division II Bulletin).

Cal Poly Pomona, tied Cal State San Bernardino and Cal State Dominguez Hills for the regular-season California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) title last season.

The Broncos are led by first team All-CCAA senior guard Austin Swift and second team All-CCAA junior forward Tobias Jahn.

BYU-Hawaii, which concluded the 2008-09 season with a 27-2 record and return two All-Americans, is ranked No. 1 in the poll. Findlay is No. 2 and is followed by Soutwest Baptist, Cal Poly Pomona and Bellarmine, which rounds out the Top 5.

San Francisco State will be the first CCAA team to get its 2009-10 season underway when it takes part in the Disney Tip-Off West Coast Classic that begins Oct. 30 in Anaheim.

2009-10 Division II Bulletin Preseason Top 25 Poll

1. BYU-Hawaii
2. Findlay
3. Southwest Baptist
4. Cal Poly Pomona
5. Bellarmine
6. Tusculum
7. Merrimack
8. Augusta State
9. Florida Southern
10. Bentley
11. Valdosta State
12. Southwest Minnesota
13. Metro State
14. Central Missouri
15. Winona State
16. Kutztown
17. Central Oklahoma
18. Grand Valley State
19. Philadelphia
20. Northern Kentucky
21. Delta State
22. Rollins
23. J.C. Smith
24. West Virginia State
25. Incarnate Word

Bronco student-athletes Jersain Torres and Elizabeth Diaz have been named the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Male and Female Athletes of the Month for September at Cal Poly Pomona.

                The awards are voted upon by the student-based Bronco Athletics Association.

                Torres (Anaheim) competes in cross country and has two top-20 honors this season. He finished 5th at the CSU Fullerton race and 20th at UC Riverside. His honors at UCR earned him CCAA Runner of the Week on Sept. 21. He was 29th at the Stanford Invitational.

The Enterprise honor is Torres' second in his career.

                Diaz (Escondido) is the leading player on the Broncos volleyball team. She established a career-high 19 kills against No. 15 Sonoma State on Sept. 25. She leads the Broncos (6-8 overall, 3-4 CCAA) in kills (141) and kills per game (3.00).

                It is her first Enterprise career honor.

The Golden Eagles stormed back from an early 4-0 deficit and beat Cal Poly Pomona, 10-5, Friday in a CCAA contest at Reeder Field. Cal State L.A. (29-14, 20-10 CCAA) stretched its winning streak to five games with its second victory in two days over the Broncos (24-19, 14-16 CCAA). The Golden Eagles were 13-3 in their 16 conference games at Reeder Field in 2009.

Cal State L.A. will conclude CCAA play with two games at Cal Poly Pomona and four games at Sonoma State next week.

Nathan Pickett overcame a rocky second inning and went seven strong innings to pick up the win. He allowed all four of his runs in the second inning and also hit five batters in the first three innings before settling down. Pickett (3-2) hit three batters and walked another in the second inning alone, but he was able to leave the bases loaded and then blanked the Broncos on just four hits over the next five innings.

The Golden Eagles were held scoreless by Cal Poly Pomona freshman Geoff Broussard through the first five innings, although Broussard had to work hard and left eight Cal State L.A. runners on base during his five-inning stint. The Golden Eagles then struck for three runs in the sixth inning to make it 4-3 and erupted for seven runs in the seventh inning to take the lead for good.

Brian Dearth worked the final two innings for Cal State L.A. and allowed just one run on three hits.

Cal State L.A. had 15 hits in the game, while Cal Poly Pomona had 10. The two pitching staffs also combined for eight walks and seven hit batters.

Matt Miraldi and Brendan McQuaid had three hits each for the Golden Eagles, while Richard McDowell, Jeff Ringholm and Marcus Makia had two hits each for the Broncos.

The Broncos struck first in the second inning when they threatened to break open the game. Cal Poly Pomona did all its damage with two outs. Ringholm singled and Frank Klopp was hit by a pitch. Makia then hit a sharp grounder up the middle that eluded shortstop Jesus Campos and resulted in a two-run double. Villa and Erik Riedel were both hit by pitches to load the bases and Chris Brehm drew a walk to force in another run. Nick Tanos then picked up an infield single to drive in the fourth run.

The Golden Eagles trailed 4-0 into the sixth inning, but got a big break when Danne Quiroz reached on an infield error to lead off the frame. He took second on a wild pitch and Campos drew a walk. Chris Lloyd doubled in one run and Miraldi followed with a two-run single to make it 4-3.

Quiroz led off the seventh inning with a single and Campos reached when his sacrifice bunt was thrown errantly to first by pitcher Keith Powers, allowing pinch runner Michael Vinyard to score all the way from first to tie the game. Matzner followed with a double to score Campos and give the Golden Eagles their first lead at 5-4. Matzner went to third on an error and scored on a sacrifice fly by Lloyd to make it 6-4. Miraldi then tripled and scored on a double by McQuaid to make it 7-4. After Mario Ramirez was intentionally walked, Max Moya walked to load the bases. Travis Tartamella singled in one run and a second run scored when the ball was misplayed in left field, resulting in Cal Poly Pomona's third error of the inning. Vinyard drove in another run with a groundout to make it 10-4.

Cal Poly Pomona scored its final run in the eighth on a run-scoring single by Makia.

Cal State L.A. will conclude the four-game series with a doubleheader at Cal Poly Pomona on Saturday.

By Michelle gardner

Staff Writer

Cal Poly Pomona men's basketball coach Greg Kamansky is just now catching his breath.
A whirlwind two weeks included playoff games in three different time zones and ended with a 56-53 overtime loss to Findlay (Ohio) in the Division II national championship game in Springfield, Mass., last Saturday.

The Broncos (25-8) returned on Sunday and celebrated with the student body on Thursday. Now, Kamansky is focused on recruiting. But you won't find him complaining.

"It has been an unbelievable experience," he said. "You think of the number of teams that play college basketball and very few get a chance to play for a national championship. And to think how far we went and the obstacles we overcame to get there. It is even more rewarding."

The Broncos are graduating four seniors, the key ones being All-American Larry Gordon and third-leading scorer Walter Thompson.

Before the team left for the Elite Eight, Kamansky stopped short of calling Gordon the best player to come out of the program. He didn't hesitate when asked again.

Gordon finished as the school's all-time leading rebounder and second-leading scorer behind only Jeff Bonds. He also finishes ranked second in field goals (527), second in free throws (385), third in games played (116), fifth in steals (133), seventh in blocks (52) and 10th in 3-point field goals (94).

What sets him apart from the other four All-Americans the school has produced is his showing in the postseason. He averaged 22 points and 11.3 rebounds and shot 67.6 percent from the field in the run.

"His legacy is complete," Kamansky said. "Big-time players step up in big-time games. He did it on the national stage."

Kamansky admits it will be hard to replace his most recent All-American. But the one thing the Broncos will have is a solid nucleus of veterans returning.

Last year Gordon was the only starter back. The Broncos will be set in the front court, returning Dwayne Fells, who started 18 games this season as a true freshman, as well as sophomore forward Tobias Jahn (9.4 ppg, 5.5 rpg), who came into his own over the second half of the season.

They will also have Kevin Ryan, the team's top recruit last year who had to redshirt because of a knee injury. They also landed an early signee in Justin Herold, a 6-foot-7 power forward out of Carrillo High School in Santa Rosa.

The core of other returning players will include second-leading scorer Austin Swift (10.2 ppg, 5.1 rpg), heady point guard Dahir Nasser (5.7 ppg, 2.7 apg) and much-improved reserve Robert Summers (7.1 ppg).

Cajon graduate Donnelle Booker will also be back in the fold. He sustained a season-ending knee injury in October and will be the most seasoned player in the program. The coach is hoping he can provide the same veteran leadership Gordon did.

Kamansky said the biggest need right now is in the backcourt. The Broncos typically carry fewer players than most teams but are looking for three or four more players.

"I like what we'll have coming back," he said. "Yes, we're losing Larry, but we have guys that have actually played together, which is unlike last year. A couple more guards and we'll be set.

"This is a great experience to build on."

By Jeff Thomas

Correspondent

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - Oh, for a few more seconds on the clock.
The remarkable run of the Cal Poly Pomona men's basketball team came to a sudden and shocking end Saturday afternoon at the MassMutual Center when senior guard Tyler Evans drained a fadeaway 3-pointer at buzzer in overtime to give the University of Findlay the NCAA Division II national championship.

Cal Poly Pomona fought back from a 14-point second-half deficit, only to go down 56-53 to Oilers, who concluded a perfect season at 36-0 and was ranked No. 1 wire-to-wire.

"We put ourselves in position to win the game, but tonight we didn't do it and they did," Cal Poly Pomona coach Greg Kamansky said. "We feel proud of the fact that we put ourselves in position and could have won it."

The Broncos (25-8), who won 16 of their last 17 to get to this point and had traveled more than 10,000 miles in the NCAA tournament - with another 3,000 or so more to come Sunday - were the feel-good story of the tournament.

That storybook ending almost came to fruition, but a well-guarded Evans picked that point in time to make his only field goal of the afternoon.

"I think it was good defense but he hit a tough shot," Broncos senior guard Walter Thompson said. "You can't ask for any better defense out of Dahir (Nasser). It was good pressure and he had his hand in his face. He made a tough shot."

The game was tied at 53-53 after senior All-American Larry Gordon hit a 15-foot jumper with 12.5 seconds left. There was a held-ball call under Cal Poly's basket with 2.4 seconds left. Findlay's Marcus Parker inbounded the ball from the baseline to Evans, who was already a step behind the 3-point arc.

Evans took a dribble back and to his left before taking the shot that swished through the basket 25 feet away and left Nasser on his knees and holding his head in disbelief.

"We were concerned with the inbounder getting the ball back for a quick three, so they got the ball to (Evans) and he kept backing up and backing up and throws a fadeaway three from God knows how many feet," Kamansky said. "The guy hit a great shot, give him some credit. That's part of the game of basketball. Win some, lose some."

It was the second overtime win of the Elite Eight for Findlay, and just the fourth overtime championship game in Elite Eight history.

"I can't express the feeling that we have winning this game the way it was won with that unbelievable last-second shot, the way we've won the last four of our games," Findlay coach Ron Niekamp said. "It's an incredible feeling and it's also a feeling that someone up there is looking out for you when you win four like that."

The game had the look of a rout for a while, the Oilers taking a 30-20 halftime lead and pushing that lead to as many as 14 with 16:25 left in the game.

"At that time I called timeout and was pretty fired up and said you're not going down like this," Kamansky said. "I just told our guys we've done it all year and this is not the way we were gonna go down, getting beat handily.

"We got a couple of nice plays and hit a couple of nice shots and next thing you know we got our confidence going and we knew we could play with these guys," he added.

Gordon, who scored a game-high 17 points, scored on a reverse layup, followed by a Robert Summers 3-pointer. Tobias Jahn (14 points) scored at the rim and Summers made two foul shots. After Gordon scored on a drive to the basket, Jahn scored from the baseline to complete the 13-0 run and get the Broncos within one, 36-35.

After Bostic scored on a putback, Thompson hit a 3-pointer and the game was tied with 7:05 to play.

Both teams had opportunities to win in the closing minutes but neither could capitalize.
In overtime it was much of the same, the lead changing five times before Evans hit his heroic shot to end an incredible season for the Broncos.

"This will sting for a while but we'll look back in a little bit and say what a great season this was for this team," Kamansky said. "I can't tell you how proud I am of these guys. Digging in game after game after game. We've won a lot of these overtime games.

"This season I'll take and there's probably 300 coaches in Division II who would take this," he added. "There's only one coach that wouldn't and that's the coach of Findlay."

The National Association of Basketball Coaches announced their all-West Region team in NCAA Division II and Brown was voted to the first team and Montgomery to the second team.

Brown, a 6-7 postman who was all-CCAA conference first-team, the CCAA's newcomer of the year and MVP of the CCAA tournament, is now eligible to be considered for the NABC all-America teams that will be announced at the Elite Eight in Springfield, Mass later this month.

Earlier last week, Brown was voted by sports information directors in the West Region to the Daktronics all-West Region first team.

Montgomery, a 6-foot guard, was an all-CCAA first-team selection.

Joining Brown on the NABC all-region first team were Larry Gordon of Cal Poly Pomona, Lucas Alves of BYU-Hawaii, Michael Hernandez of Cal State Dominguez Hills, Ira Graham of Western Washington and Jake Linton of Saint Martin's.

Along with Montgomery, the other second-teamers on the NABC all-star teams were Jerrell Smith of CSU Dominguez Hills, Zac Tiedeman of Humboldt State, Matt Penoncello of Central Washington, Kenny Barker of Alaska Anchorage and Jay DeMaestri of Hawaii Hilo.

Greg Kamansky of Cal Poly Pomona was voted coach of the year by the NABC.

Brown led the CCAA in scoring at 21.5 points per game, was No. 3 in rebounding at 8.7 rebounds per game, No.4 in field goal percentage (56.0), No. 1 in blocked shots (39 - 1.7/game) and No. 1 in offensive rebounds per game (2.8). He was the team leader in all those categories.

Montgomery was No. 6 in the CCAA in scoring (14.3 ppg), No. 12 in field goal percentage (49.8), No. 9 in assists (3.1/game), No. 7 in 3-point FG percentage (40.7). He led the team in assists (94) and averaged 2.4 rebounds a game and shot 75 percent from the foul line.