Matadors Suffer 76-70 Loss at Cal Poly

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SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA---

CSUN Men's Basketball (11-17, 7-8 BWC) dropped a 76-70 decision to Cal Poly on Thursday evening at Mott Athletics Center. Despite an off-shooting night, Kendall Smith led the Matadors with 19 points while Darin Johnson had 15 points, Tavrion Dawson scored 14 and Jerron Wilbut chipped in with 10 points off the bench.

Finishing with eight rebounds, six points and an assist on the night, Parks became the sixth Matador in the team's Division I history to record 1,000 points, 300 rebounds, 200 assists and 100 steals over his career. Dishing out his 200th assist on Thursday, Parks joined elite CSUN company consisting of Brian Heinle (1997-01), Markus Carr (1998-02), Ian Boylan (2001-05), Jonathan Heard (2004-08) and Josh Greene (2010-14).

Cal Poly finished shooting 43.4 percent from the field for the game while CSUN registered a 39.7 shooting percentage. The Matadors knocked down 7-of-16 (43.8 percent) from 3-point land compared to the Mustangs who went 6-of-19 (31.6 percent). Cal Poly out-rebounded CSUN, 40-32, and scored more points in the paint, 20-10.

The Matadors came out firing in the first half, knocking down five of their first six shots to take an 11-5 lead at the 16:30 mark of the first half. CSUN later extended to its biggest lead of the half at 17-7 after 3-pointers from Johnson and Smith.

After Cal Poly went on a 9-2 run to trim CSUN's lead to 19-18, Wilbut checked in and hit consecutive jumpers to keep the Matadors in front, 25-21. However, the Mustangs would surge into the lead with a 7-0 run capped off by a 3-pointer from Kyle Toth.

On the ensuing possesion, Johnson nailed a 3-pointer to even the game up but Donovan Fields would find Zach Gordon on a slam dunk near halftime to put Cal Poly ahead 30-28 at intermission.

As they did at the start of the game, the Matadors came out strong to begin the second half. After evening the game on jumpers from Johnson, Dawson and Parks, CSUN took a 37-35 lead on a tip-in from Dylan Johns.

The Mustangs would have an answer as a 10-2 run quickly put CSUN behind 46-40 at the 10:24 mark. Reggie Theus Jr. nailed a jumper to bring the Matadors to within four but another 12-1 outburst punctuated by a dunk from Hank Hollingsworth gave Cal Poly a 56-45 advantage.

The Matadors battled down the stretch though and were able to cut a 10-point deficit to six (64-58) after Johnson hit two free throws. Applying full court pressure, the Matadors forced a turnover on the inbounds pass and were in position to pull to within four with less than two minutes to play but Johnson missed a runner in the lane.

Cal Poly would make key free throws down the stretch including 10 in the final 1:26 to stave off a CSUN rally.

The Matadors finished shooting 34.8 percent from the field in the second half as well as 3-of-9 from 3-point land. However, CSUN earned its way to the free throw line with regularity, hitting 17-of-21 in the period after taking no shots from the charity stripe in the first half.

CSUN concludes the regular season on Saturday evening against Cal State Fullerton at The Matadome. Tip-off for the game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Competing in his final home game of his career, Parks will be honored in a special post-game ceremony.

Matadors Suffer 76-70 Loss at Cal Poly

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Team Stats

Kendall Smith

Darin Johnson

Tavrion Dawson

Jerron Wilbut

Players Mentioned

Tavrion Dawson

Dylan Johns

Darin Johnson

Kendall Smith

Reggie Theus Jr.

Jerron Wilbut