BOX SCORE #7 Cal Poly Pomona 70, Sonoma State 61 -- Box Score

POMONA, Calif. -- Patrick Scott led all players with 25 points on 8 of 16 from the hardwood, including seven three-pointers, but the Sonoma State men's basketball team couldn't hold on to a narrow halftime lead in falling to seventh-ranked Cal Poly Pomona, 70-61, in front of 1,304 fans on Thursday night at Kellogg Gym in Pomona.  The Seawolves have lost seven of their last nine, including their last three, dropping to 5-8 (3-6 CCAA).  The Broncos rise to 12-1 overall and 8-1 in conference play.

While Scott went for double-digits for the 11th time this season to remain the CCAA's top scoring threat at 17.2 points per game, none of his teammates added more than seven on Thursday night -- both Jason Walter and Steve Lackey dropped in seven points each, followed by six from Jabri Jenkins. 

The Seawolves were more efficient on offense, knocking down 44.4 percent of their shots (20-45), as opposed to 41.0 percent from the Broncos (25-61), but it would be the turnovers that would be the difference of the game.  Sonoma gave the ball away 21 times, 14 by way of a Pomona steal, allowing the Broncos to score 30 points off said miscues.  Meanwhile, CPP turned the ball over just seven times, leading to only four SSU points.

Both teams got off to an extremely slow start offensively; only six points were scored by either team in the first 6:40 of the game -- all six of which were put through the net by Cal Poly Pomona.  At the 13:20 mark of the first half, Sonoma State finally broke through for its first tallies of the night on a layup by Ryan Stanley.  Both teams then battled back and forth, but the visiting Seawolves eventually jumped out to a seven-point, 28-21 lead -- their largest of the night -- at the 2:06 mark of the opening period.  However, the Broncos ended the half on a 5-0 run to trail 28-26 at the intermission.

The SSU lead got back up to six points at 32-26 out of the break, but CPP would turn the momentum around, spinning a six-point deficit into an 11-point lead (50-39) nine minutes later.  The Seawolves wouldn't go away quietly, though, as they erased the 11-point Bronco lead and knotted the game at 56-56 with exactly five minutes left on the game clock.  But, just as quickly as Sonoma pulled itself back into the contest, Pomona pushed back and went on a 12-2 run to take a 68-58 lead with 46 seconds left, eventually holding on to the 70-61 win in front of a raucous Kellogg crowd.

Sharpshooter Will Olsem was held to just five points in the loss, misfiring on 10 of his 12 shots (2 of 12 overall and only 1 of 8 from three-point land).  He is two points away from joining the 1,000-point club with 998 in his career.

Cal Poly Pomona saw three players score in double-figures, led by the 17 points from Mitchel Anderson, who also matched Olsem for the game-high in rebounds with nine.  Bryce Brady added 14 points and DeRonn Scott chipped in with 10 as the Broncos have now won three straight since their only loss of the 2012-13 season to Cal State San Bernardino on Jan. 5.

Sonoma State will now make a 680-mile trek up north to Arcata for a Saturday night showdown with Humboldt State.  Tip off from Lumberjack Arena is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.  The Seawolves will then return home for a brief two-game homestand, beginning with a matchup with Cal State San Bernardino next Friday (Jan. 25) in The Wolves' Den.