Cal Poly men’s basketball falls in 2nd game of NIU Thanksgiving Classic

Sophomore guard Jaylen Shead finished with a career-high 20 points, but the Cal Poly men’s basketball team couldn’t bridge a 21-point halftime deficit against Illinois-Chicago Friday afternoon and dropped an 84-71 decision at the Northern Illinois-hosted Thanksgiving Classic in DeKalb Illinois.

Sophomore guard Donovan Fields added 16 points for Cal Poly (3-3), which matched a program single game record with a 94.1-percent (16 for 17) free-throw mark. Trailing 46-25 at the break, Cal Poly cut Illinois-Chicago’s lead to single digits three times in the second half, but drew no closer than eight points down the stretch.

Facing Illinois-Chicago for the first time in program history, Cal Poly shot 38.5 percent from the floor while conceding a 53.1 percent mark to the Flames (3-2).

Junior guard Victor Joseph chipped in 11 points, while Shead pulled down a game high eight rebounds for Cal Poly.

Cal Poly, which opened the NIU Thanksgiving Classic by defeating the host Huskies 68-64 on Wednesday, closes tournament action against Elon on Saturday. Elon defeated UIC on Wednesday and Northern Illinois on Friday.

This story was originally published November 25, 2016 at 5:33 PM with the headline "Cal Poly men’s basketball falls in 2nd game of NIU Thanksgiving Classic."