College Roundup

College Roundup: Keeler leads Mustangs to rare road win

Lorenzo Keeler ties a career-high with 22 as Mustangs earn fourth road win of the season over struggling 49ers

On paper, the Cal Poly men’s basketball team had next to nothing to play for Thursday night.

The Mustangs, after all, were already locked into the sixth seed for the eight-team Big West Conference Tournament.

Cal Poly, though, rallied in the second half for a 68-62 win at lowly Long Beach State — only the Mustangs’ fourth road win all season.

Lorenzo Keeler tied a career high with 22 points to lead Cal Poly (12-16, 7-8 Big West), which has a chance to finish conference play at .500 at Cal State Northridge at 5 p. m. Saturday in a Fox Sports Net Prime Ticket TV game.

Keeler sank five 3-pointers and had a key basket and two crucial free throws in the final minute of play to secure the win for the Mustangs.

With the score tied 58-58 and just over three minutes to play, Cal Poly scored on five straight possessions and held the 49ers to one basket over the final three minutes.

Trae Clark added 10 points for the Mustangs, who will begin Big West tourney play on Wednesday.

Ar turas Lazdauskas scored a career-high 15 points for Long Beach State. Brandon Johnson added 12 points, and Maurice Clady had 11 points and seven assists for the 49ers.

The conference’s leading scorer, Donavan Morris, averaging 21.1 points per game, made only 1 of 12 shots and was held to seven points for the 49ers (6-23, 3-12).

Despite the loss, the 49ers qualified for the conference tournament as a result of UC Davis’ loss to UC Irvine on Thursday. With one regularseason game remaining, Long Beach State will either be the seventh or eighth seed in the tournament.

Baseball

• Cuesta 15, Ventura 2: After dropping seven of its first eight games on the road, Cuesta earned a much-needed Western Conference State victory at Ventura thanks to 18 hits.

Four of those hits went for extra bases as Brian Mc- Conkey doubled and Gabe Donatelli, Chad Gross and Ryan Smith all homered for the Cougars.

Donatelli put the Cougars up 4-0 with a grand slam home run in the first.

“That was a big swing,” Cuesta coach Bob Miller said. “He’s a guy that’s really catching fire at the right time for us.”

McConkey finished 4 for 4 and knocked in three runs. Quentin Cate was 3 for 6 and knocked in two runs. Brad Decater and Smith each finished with a pair of hits.

Tyler Fick, who sat out last season after arm surgery, pitched seven scoreless innings for the Cougars (10-9-1, 3-1 WSC). The lefty, who Miller said “is getting stronger with each outing,” allowed just five hits, striking out three without a walk.

Cuesta hosts Oxnard at 1 p. m. Saturday.

Softball

• Santa Barbara 8, Cuesta 2: The Cougars lost a chance to even their record after allowing four runs in the seventh inning.

The only two runs for Cuesta (7-9, 3-5 Western State Conference) came in the first inning. Sara Clinton had two of the five hits for the Cougars, who play this weekend at the Bash at Buchanan.

Women’s Tennis

• Cuesta 9, Bakersfield 0: The Cougars dominated on the road to improve to 8-0 with standout wins from Jamie Burden and Hannah Crampton, who turned in “sterling performances,” Cougars coach Mike Napoli said.

Burden won her match against Meghan Rapheal 6-2, 6-0, and Crampton beat Lauren McAtee by the same scores.