Broncos Fall to Yotes in Thrilling Crosstown Showdown on Senior Night

POMONA, Calif. - The Cal Poly Pomona men's basketball team came up short late in the second half against nationally ranked Cal State San Bernardino on Thursday night, losing by a narrow margin of (score) of 65-53. In their first matchup of the season, the Broncos struggled to score against a dominant Yotes defense in a 71-30 defeat, registering their lowest number of points on the season.  

Looking to bounce back from their first loss on senior night for the Broncos, the crosstown showdown proved to be a thrilling battle. The Yotes looked strong out of the gates, jumping out to an early 7-0 lead over the Broncos, with a jumper and trey by Sedrick Altman. Bam Johnson sank a three from the left side to end the scoring drought, one of only two players to reach double figures, recording 12 points on the night. Kodey Weary was close behind, contributing nine points while shooting 4-for-6 (.667) from the field. 

At 15:52 in the first half, a fast break layup by Jaden Winfield off Chris Gayles Jr.'s steal would tie the game at 7-7. The Broncos would keep in the game throughout the entire first half with their defense, recording six of their 12 steals on the night compared to the Yotes' five. Their first lead of the game came at 10:11 on a fast break layup by Johnson to gain a 16-15 lead, the Broncos outscored the Yotes 19-7 in fast break points.  

Trailing 33-31 at halftime, the Broncos found success in the paint with back-to-back layups by Porter and Johnson to even the game 37-37 at 16:09, CPP registered 36 points in the paint to CSUSB's 38.  

The Broncos struggled on the boards against the number-one-ranked defense in the conference, CSUSB held CPP to only 27 rebounds to their 40, marking the fewest in a game this season. Kevin Simeth accounted for ten of those, his third game in a row reaching double-figure rebounds.  

Their lone senior on the team, Brandon Porter was a spotlight for the Broncos on his senior night, filling up the stat sheet with 15 points, six rebounds, and four steals. Porter led the team in scoring this season totaling 334, to average 12.8 points per game, currently ranking in the top 15 for scoring in the conference.  

With a three-point margin halfway through the second half, the Yotes capitalized on offense for a 9-0 scoring run, combined with a technical foul against the Broncos to gain their first double-digit lead of the game. Ultimately falling to 65-53, after the Yotes outscored the Broncos 17-9 in the final 10 minutes.  

With the loss, the Broncos finish the 2023-2024 season in eighth place in the conference with a 9-13 CCAA record and a 10-16 overall record.  

Broncos Bits 

• The Broncos are now 36-33 all-time against Cal State San Bernardino, including eight straight losses dating back to 2019.  
• Greg Kamansky is now 452-206 (.687) as head coach of the Broncos.  
• This is the most losses in a season during the Kamansky era, surpassing the previous record in 2007-08 when the Broncos finished with a 13-15 record. Additionally, this is the fourth time in 23 years CPP has not made the CCAA tournament, the last time they didn't make the playoffs was in 2005-06.