CBU Rebounds for Lopsided Win

Friday, September 7

Princeton, N.J.

9:15 AM

California Baptist University

George Washington

Photo by: Andrew Shortall

CBU Rebounds for Lopsided Win

9/7/2018 5:00:00 PM | Men's Water Polo

By: Andrew Shortall, Asst. Sports Information Director

GEORGE WASHINGTON BOX SCORE

IONA BOX SCORE

PRINCETON, N.J. – A one-goal loss to a top-20 opponent gave California Baptist University a chance to rebound at the Princeton Tournament, and the Lancers did just that with its largest margin of victory of the season on Friday.

CBU dropped a one-goal game to 18^th-ranked George Washington, 8-7, to start the day at Princeton's DeNunzio Pool, and then came back with a 20-9 win over Iona in the evening. The Lancers move to 3-3 this season, while GWU maintains a 5-0 undefeated record and the Gaels drop to 1-4.

Two more games await CBU at the Princeton Tournament on Saturday. The Lancers will take on the host, 13^th-ranked Tigers at 7 a.m. PDT, and the game will be streamed live on ESPN+. The second week comes to an end with a 1:15 p.m. game against St. Francis (Brooklyn), which is receiving votes in the NCAA top-20 rankings.

Zach Lowery led the Lancers in goals (six) and points (nine) on Friday, as he rattled off four goals and two assists versus Iona. Tanner Shore (three assists, two goals) and Dominick Nevarez (four assists, one goal) each had five points on the day, while PJ McDonough, Ryan Sargis, Christian Britton and Royce Daniel Laverne all contributed four points over both games.

CBU's ball movement and depth was crucial in its win over Iona on Friday. All 20 goals came on assists and 14 different players scored for the Lancers in the game. Nevarez and Britton both had four points with three assists, while Laverne, Sargis, Shore and Riley Bumgardner all had three points. Kyle Johnson, Logan Mena and Nick Johnson all scored twice in the win, as well.

Back in the cage, Gabe Thorne and Matt Miller both had success versus the Gaels. Miller got the start and gave up just four goals and had six saves in the first half before Thorne put up nine saves, three steals and two assists in the final 16 minutes.

The Lancers jumped all over Iona right away and raced out to an 8-2 lead in the first quarter. They pushed the advantage out to 12-4 at halftime and maintained that pace out to the 20-9 win.

Sophomores McDonough and Lowery led the Lancers' second-half comeback attempt against George Washington. The Colonials took a 6-4 lead with about 10:39 left in the game, but goals from McDonough and Lowery knotted the score at 6-6 about four minutes later.

GWU went back in front, 7-6, with 5:02 to play, but Lowery evened the score again at the 2:05 mark in the fourth quarter. George Washington just avoided overtime with a goal coming with just six seconds left in regulation after it drew an exclusion four seconds earlier.

Mena scored the first goal of the game for CBU on the Colonials. The Lancers then went on a 3-0 run that started with 3:21 to play in the first quarter and ended 1:07 into the second frame, with goals from Joseph Galgani, McDonough and Shore giving CBU a 4-2 lead. George Washington fought back to force a 4-4 tie at halftime, and then took a two-goal lead itself, 6-4, with 2:39 remaining in the third quarter.