Friday, March 11, 2016
by Evan O'Kelly

MONMOUTH, Ore. – Cal Baptist University put the ball into the hands of 2015-16 PacWest Conference Player of the Year Michael Smith in the closing seconds of its NCAA Division II West Region Championships first-round victory over Cal Poly Pomona on Friday, as the junior helped lead the Lancers to a 70-63 triumph over the Broncos at the New P.E. Building on the campus of Western Oregon University.

Clinging to a narrow lead, Smith found Gelaun Wheelwright with a heads-up, half court pass from the baseline out of bounds that beat CPP’s full-court press. A pair of ensuing free throws from Wheelwright iced the victory, as CBU led 66-61 with 25 seconds left. The duo of Wheelwright and Smith combined for 41 of CBU’s 70 points, and the Lancers out-rebounded the Broncos 39-28 in the win.

CBU (28-6) advances to the second round of the championships, and will play the winner of No. 2 UC San Diego vs. No. 7 Chico State starting at 2:30 p.m. Pacific.

With 44 seconds remaining in regulation, the Broncos created a turnover and took over in a one-possession game. A trey by CPP’s Jordan Faison rattled all the way around the rim and out, and Trevone Williams made the score 64-59 on the other end with a pair of free throws for the Lancers. It was one of many opportunities down the stretch that didn’t go CPP’s way, as the Broncos ended their season with a record of 22-8.

Jeremy Dennis led all Broncos with a dozen points, and Jordan Ogundiran and Barry Bell were also in double figures with 11 apiece.

The Lancers put together a 7-1 run capped by a 3-point play by Jordan Giusti, but Faison put a halt to the run with a trey from the top of the key that made the score 12-9 early in the first. An ensuing 7-0 gave the Lancers their largest lead of the half, as a strong take to the hoop by Smith made it a 10-point ballgame at 19-9.

Momentum shifted from that point, as CPP’s Chris Sullivan scored four straight points to kick off an 11-0 run. The Broncos’ first-half edge peaked at five points on a layup by Faison, and CPP held a 31-29 advantage at the break. CPP overcame a 3-for-10 start shooting from the field in the opening nine minutes, and made 9 of 19 shots the rest of the half for a shooting-percentage advantage of 41.9-40.7 in the opening 20 minutes.

Smith was the lone individual to reach double figures by halftime with 11 points. Faison led the Broncos with nine points in the opening period.

A Jeremy Dennis trey with nine minutes to go helped the Broncos regain the lead for the first time since the break, and the teams traded buckets into the closing minutes of the second.

Overall on the game, CBU shot 42.6 percent from the field (20-for-47) compared with an even 40.0 percent by CPP (24-for-60). Kalidou Diouf chipped in 11 points for the Lancers, who overcame 14 turnovers and a shooting percentage of just 25.9 (7-for-27) from 3-point range in the win.

The Lancers won for just the second time ever against the Broncos, though the teams had not met since the 1983-84 season when CPP won 72-68.

TOURNEY TALK: Cal Baptist kept its hopes of returning to the West Region title game for a second straight year alive, as the Lancers were the runners-up a season ago…making their 12th NCAA tournament appearance, CPP moved to 24-12 all-time in tournament games.

FRIDAY TOURNEY SCHEDULE

Noon: Game 1 – No. 3 Cal Baptist 70, No. 6 Cal Poly Pomona 63

2:30 PM: Game 2 – No. 7 Chico State vs. No. 2 UC San Diego

5 PM: Game 3 – No. 5 Azusa Pacific vs. No. 4 Seattle Pacific

7:30 PM: Game 4 – No. 8 Humboldt State vs. No. 1 Western Oregon

 *All times Pacific