Broncos up at the half, 36-25

The Cal Poly Pomona Broncos aren’t intimidated by anyone. That is showing as the Broncos are leading Brigham Young-Hawaii 36-25 at the half in the NCAA Division II West Regional title game at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Wash.

The Broncos have never been that great a perimeter shooting team but that has been big early as Cal Poly is 7-for-12 from long distance. It made five 3-point tries in a row in one stretch with Mark Rutledge coming off the bench and making three in a row, the last of which staked the Broncos to a 26-14 lead. 

Donnelle Booker leads the Broncos with xx points. He went down hard with 2:20 left in the first half when he charged the bucket and collided with a defender. He has been suffering from back spasms the last few days. That sure didn’t help.

Rutledge has nine points and Dwayne Fells has seven as the Broncos are shooting 53.8 percent from the field.

BYU, which has players on its roster from five different countries, has gotten nine from Virgil Buensuceso. The Seasiders supposed all-world performer Lucas Alves has just four.

Share this

Plusone Twitter Facebook Tumblr Reddit Stumbleupon Email

An off-day for the Broncos in Bellingham, Wash.

The Cal Poly Pomona men’s basketball had the day off and the Broncos needed it to recharge after a draining 76-75 overtime win against Western Washington University in the NCAA Division II West Region semifinal on Saturday..

The Broncos (24-6) will be playing Brigham Young Hawall (22-5) at 7 p.m. on Monday for the right to move on the Elite Eight..

Neither team used its shoot-around time on Sunday. Broncos coach Greg Kamansky thought his team would be better off getting some rest and BYU doesn’t ever practice or play on Sundays for religious reasons.

The day off should help the Broncos, more than the Seasiders. BYU has some depth but Kamansky played just eight players in the overtime game. He used nine in the quarterfinal but one of those played just a minute.

It was a good day to stay inside anyway. It wasn’t all that cold, but there was a steady rain much of the day. When doesn’t rain in Washington? It might get up to 60 today. That’s pretty mild for a March day in Washington.

One more note, ran into Ira Graham after the game on Saturday. He is the former Fontana High School standout who had a stellar career playing at Western Washington. He has used all his eligibility but is finishing up school. He says he is headed to China this week to play professional ball and will be the same league with another local – Sheldon Pace..

 

 

Share this

Plusone Twitter Facebook Tumblr Reddit Stumbleupon Email

Broncos find that magic again

The Cal Poly Pomona Broncos found a way again. Nothing surprises me about this team any more. The Broncos beat Western Washington 76-75 in overtime in West Region semifinal play.

The winning bucket came fron Dwayne Fells, off a pass from Dahir Nasser with a second left.

Austin Swift was huge with 22 points. That follows an 18-point performnance the previous night in the quarterfinals. He had two baskets in the closing minute of regulation, including a huge 3-pointer.

Swift has emerged as the leader of thit team, the same way Larry Gordon was the on-court leader in the magical run a year ago.

Now the focus will be on BYU-Hawaii. The Seasiders likely can’t wait to get their hands on the Broncos since they are the team that ended their run last year.

Game time Monday is 7 p.m. Judging the way BYU–Hawaii disposed of Cal State San Bernardino, it should be a great game.

 

Share this

Plusone Twitter Facebook Tumblr Reddit Stumbleupon Email