BOX SCORE

CAL ST. MONTEREY BAY 60, CAL POLY POMONA 57 FINAL BOX SCORE

SCOREBOARD  1  2  OT  FINAL Cal St. Monterey Bay (7-11, 5-10 CCAA)  28  32  60 No. 18 Cal Poly Pomona (15-4, 13-2 CCAA)  16  41  57

TOP PERFORMERS

OTTERS No. STAT No. BRONCOS Alex Fertig 16 Points 13 Jordan Faison Kris Gallop 7 Rebounds 10 Daniel Rodriguez Alex Fertig 4 Assists 4 Barry Bell

POMONA, Calif. — For the second time in three weeks, the Cal State Monterey Bay men's basketball team played the role of giant killer Thursday night. This time, the Otters earned the second–ever win over a nationally–ranked team by defeating No. 18 Cal Poly Pomona 60–57 in Kellogg Gym.

Sophomore guard Alex Fertig (Fresno/Buchanan HS) made the big shots when the Otters needed them most. His clutch 3–pointer with 2:08 remaining stopped a big Cal Poly run and his two free throws with 24 seconds remaining forced the Broncos to have to go for three, unsuccessfully, on their final possession.

Fertig led CSUMB (7–11, 5–10 CCAA) with 16 points and four assists. Ryan Nitz (Rancho Cucamonga/Chaffey College) added 12 points while Kris Gallop (Vallejo/Los Medanos College) grabbed a team–high seven rebounds and a career–high four steals.

Jordan Faison scored 13 points as the only player to reach double figures for Cal Poly (15–4, 13–2), which saw its 13–game winning streak snapped.

"We were so well prepared," said Fertig. "It was harder in practice this week then it was in the game. We know we're good. It's just a matter of putting all of the pieces together."

"That's a team that knows how to win and has won a ton of games here," said CSUMB Head Coach Rob Bishop. "Hats off to our kids. They played outstanding, They played hard and grew up a lot tonight. They earned this one."

The Otters never trailed Thursday night, forcing turnovers on three of Cal Poly's first four possessions while racing to a 9–0 lead. The Otter lead grew to as many as 21 points in the first half, 28–7, and to as many as 19 points, 45–26, seven minutes after intermission.

But Cal Poly, which entered the week leading the nation in scoring defense (58.4 points per game allowed), wasn't about to let the Otters run away with this one. The Broncos fought their way back, out–scoring CSUMB 31–13 down the stretch.

A DeRonn Scott 3–pointer pulled the Broncos to within 58–55 before Fertig went to the line only to miss the front end of a 1–and–1 opportunity with 38 seconds to play. Scott made Otter fans sweat a little more when he buried a pair of free throws to make it a 1–point game with 30 seconds left.

The Otters inbounded and Cal Poly fouled Fertig again. This time, ice water flowed through Fertig's right arm and he made both free throws to extend the lead back to 60–57.

"My free throws haven't bee too hot this year as you've said before," Fertig said to radio play–by–play man Rob Ponce during the postgame show. "It feels good to step up. I missed the first time but I knew I couldn't let that happen again."

The Broncos got one look a 3–pointer, but Jordan Finn couldn't find the mark. They grabbed the offensive rebound but couldn't get another attempt off before the final horn sounded.

The Otters will concluded their 4–game roadtrip Saturday when they head to far Northern California to take on Humboldt State in Arcata.