RIVERSIDE--- The California Baptist University men's basketball team rounded out The Joust with a 67-58 victory over the visiting Cal Poly Mustangs. The Lancers finished the tournament 2-1 with wins over St. Thomas and Cal Poly, and their lone loss was on a half-court heave at the hands of Portland State.
CBU moves to 4-1 on the young season, marking their best start of the DI-era since 2021, when they began 5-0. The Lancers and the Vikings of Portland State had the two best marks of the tournament, each going 2-1, with St. Thomas and Cal Poly having 1-2 records on the weekend.
PLAY-BY-PLAY:
Both the Mustangs and Lancers were plagued by slow offensive starts, with neither team breaking the 20-point mark until the four-minute mark of the first half. Dominique Daniels Jr. came to play after a quiet night against St. Thomas, scoring more than half of the team's points in the first half with 16.
The Mustangs kept the game close through the entirety of the opening 20 minutes and connected on a late triple to even the match at 26 heading into halftime.
CBU jumped out to a 10-1 run to open the second half, capitalized by a deep triple by Daniels in the face of a Mustang defender. Cal Poly would exercise a scoring run of their own and cut the lead all the way down to 42-43 with 11:40 to play. Three straight buckets by Yvan Ouedraogo put CBU back in the driver's seat, where they remained until the final whistle.
STATISTICAL NOTABLES:
The Lancers continued to live at the foul line in this ball game, earning 31 opportunities, 22 of which they cashed in. The boards, another aspect of the game that CBU dominated, outpacing Cal Poly 47-35 in that department. The rebound disparity was primarily due to Hunter Goodrick, who hauled in 16 rebounds on the night, including five on the offensive glass.
Daniels led all scorers with 26 points on made five made triples. The 26 points were the most so far by Daniels in a Lancer uniform, and he has made more triples than any Lancers in his first five games in the DI era. Ouedraogo continues to shine in an offensive role with the Lancers, setting yet another career-high with 17 points on 70% shooting from the floor. Ouedraogo hauled in 13 rebounds as well, leading the tournament in that category.
ALL-TOURNAMENT:
F Kobe Sanders- Cal Poly
F- KJ Allen- Portland State
F- Yvan Ouedraogo- CBU
F- Parker Bjorklund- St. Thomas
G- Dominique Daniels Jr.- CBU
Tournament MVP: Dominique Daniels Jr.- CBU
NEXT: The Lancers will have nearly a week off before taking on the Vanguard Lions on Saturday, November 25, in the Fowler Events Center.
