Cal Poly concluded its participation in the Northern Arizona MTE with an 84-68 loss to Southeast Missouri on Tuesday night in Flagstaff, Arizona. Guard Cayden Ward led Cal Poly with 15 points, while Hamad Mousa contributed 14 points. The Mustangs (3-5) held a two-point lead over Southeast Missouri (2-4) at halftime but were outscored by 30 points during the first nine minutes of the second half.
Southeast Missouri, the defending Ohio Valley Conference regular season champions, pulled away from Cal Poly after taking their first lead early in the second half. “A three-pointer from SEMO guard Luke Almodovar early in the second half handed the Redhawks their first lead at 34-33. Moments later, Almodovar and guard BJ Ward sank back-to-back three-pointers to push SEMO’s lead to 49-43 with 14 minutes to play.”
Cal Poly struggled from beyond the arc, making just five of their 24 attempts, though they converted 83.8 percent of their free throws. Sophomore guard Peter Bandelj recorded a game-high seven rebounds for Cal Poly.
The Mustangs started strong, taking an early advantage through scoring contributions from Austin Goode, Jake Davis, and Troy Plumtree. They built a seven-point lead midway through the first half before entering halftime ahead by two.
Southeast Missouri then limited Cal Poly’s offense, holding them without a field goal for more than seven minutes and extending their own lead to as much as 18 points with nine minutes left. Cal Poly closed within 12 points once late in the game but could not narrow the gap further.
With this result, Cal Poly completes its longest road trip in four years. The team will return home to face Division III Redlands on Saturday at Mott Athletics Center. The Bulldogs are undefeated this season and reached last year’s NCAA Division III Tournament quarterfinals.
Hamad Mousa continues as Cal Poly’s leading scorer with an average of 18.3 points per game after recording double-digit figures in all seven appearances this season. Cayden Ward remains second on the team with an average of 15.4 points per game following his sixth double-digit performance of the year.
