SAN LUIS OBISPO — Freshman Gavin Sykes scored 28 points for Long Beach State, but the visitors couldn’t slow down Cal Poly in a 102-92 loss on Thursday night that officially eliminated LBSU from contention for a spot in the Big West Tournament.
Sykes scored 22 of his points in the second half, including a baseline jumper to move past program legend Lucious Harris for the Long Beach State freshman single-season record. Sykes has 469 points with three games left in the regular season.
Shaquil Bender added 18 points and five assists and Petar Majstorovic scored 15 for LBSU (8-21 overall, 4-13 Big West), which has lost 10 consecutive games. Rob Diaz III added 11 points and Leopold Levillain contributed eight points and six rebounds.
Hamad Mousa had 29 points and six rebounds to pace the Mustangs (13-16, 9-8), who secured their spot in next month’s eight-team conference tournament with their fourth straight win. Cayden Ward scored 28 points while shooting 11 for 18 from the field (2 for 8 from 3-point range) to go with nine rebounds and five assists. Jess Esso Essis added a career-high 15 points.
Long Beach held a 20-18 lead eight minutes into the high-scoring affair, but Cal Poly eventually used a 15-7 run to open a 10-point lead and took a 48-40 advantage to the locker room at halftime.
A jumper and a 3-pointer from Bender to open the second half cut LBSU’s deficit to three points, but the hosts scored on four of their next five possessions to regain a double-digit lead for the remainder of the night.
Cal Poly’s shooters and ball security proved too much for Long Beach to overcome. The Mustangs shot 54.3% from the field, made 13 3-pointers and went 21 for 22 from the free-throw line while recording their highest regulation point total since a 102-89 victory at Hawaii in February 2010. Cal Poly had a season-low eight turnovers.
UP NEXT
Long Beach State plays at Cal State Bakersfield on Saturday at 6:30 p.m.
BIG WEST STANDINGS
Through Thursday, Feb. 26
Team – Overall, Big West
Hawaii – 20-7, 12-5
UC Irvine – 19-10, 12-5
Cal State Northridge – 18-11, 11-6
UC Santa Barbara – 18-11, 11-7
UC San Diego – 20-9, 10-7
Cal State Fullerton – 15-14, 10-7
UC Davis – 17-12, 10-8
Cal Poly (SLO) – 13-16, 9-8
Long Beach State – 8-21, 4-13
UC Riverside – 9-21, 4-14
Cal State Bakersfield – 8-21, 2-15
