Senior point guard Lorenzo Keeler of the Cal Poly Mustangs just put on a nifty demonstration as to why he was a first-team all-Big West selection.
Keeler scored 19 of his game-high 27 points in the second half, including two free throws that salted away a 73-69 victory over UC Irvine with three seconds to go.
Even more critically, with his team holding a two-point advantage, he drew a charge from the Anteaters' Eric Wise with 5.2 seconds to go at UCI's end of the floor.
So the win puts the Mustangs into a Thursday night 6 o'clock quarterfinal against the Long Beach State 49ers.
How did the teams do in their two regular-season meetings?
The Mustangs clobbered the 49ers in the Walter Pyramid (90-79) on Jan. 16 while the 49ers rallied from 10 points down at intermission to prevail in San Luis Obispo (78-72) on Feb. 11.
Second-team all-Big West forward David Hanson had 22 points and eight rebounds for the Mustangs in the first game, while Keeler had 12 points and four assists.
T.J. Robinson (20), Greg Plater (16) and Larry Anderson (14) scored in double figures for the 49ers in the Walter Pyramid.
In the second meeting, five LBSU players scored in double figures with sophomore Eugene Phelps leading the way with 15 points.
Hanson had 19 points and six rebounds for Cal Poly in that game while Keeler added 17 points and 10 assists.
The 49ers will have to play very well Thursday night to beat a Mustangs' club that was quite impressive tonight.
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