Mustangs show progress in win over Bethune-Cookman

With the clock expiring in overtime, Cal Poly forward Mark Crowe banked in a three-pointer and the Mustangs beat Bethune-Cookman on Saturday night in Mott Athletics Center. After scrapping back from a late multi-possession deficit in regulation and once again in overtime, it was a finish fitting of the somewhat frantic game it was. Donovan Fields led all scorers with 28 points. Marcellus Garrick finished with 13 points and Crowe’s game-winning three pointer gave him 10 points on the night.

The game on Saturday was the Mustangs’ only game over a two-week span (Dead Week and Finals Week are to thank for that), but we did get to see some improvement in-person for the Mustangs.

Bethune-Cookman beat the Mustangs last season and won what is probably the weakest conference in all of Division I college basketball. Still, they took the Mustangs to the wire in a game that was really fun to watch. The win moves Cal Poly’s record to 3-5 on the young season. 

Find the box score from the game here. 

Chef Don

With 28 points on Saturday, Donovan Fields earned his first Big West Conference Player of the Week award.

Donovan Fields was flat-out cooking early in the game. The senior point guard from Newburgh, NY showed off from three point range, mid range, and off the dribble inside. For his 28-point performance, Fields earned himself the Big West Athlete of the Week award. The last Mustang to earn that was Victor Joseph last season.

Fittingly, Joseph was in the crowd on Saturday night with Fields and fellow senior Marcellus Garrick verbally engaging him throughout the game, resulting in a number of wide grins for all parties.

The win was Cal Poly’s third overall this season. 

The Crowe

Cal Poly hosted Bethune-Cookman at Mott Athletics Center in San Luis Obispo, CA 12/8/18

Mark Crowe has been developing steadily since his redshirt freshman season last year. In 2017-18, the Texas native scored just over 2 points per game and shot 25 percent from three-point range. With some work in the offseason, Crowe has been a much bigger contributor so far this year, averaging nearly 11 points per game (good for second on the team) while shooting 47 percent from deep.

Crowe’s versatility on the defensive end paired with improved shooting have earned him the second most minutes on this year’s Mustang roster, one that is probably as set in its rotation and roles as it has been at this time during any of the past few seasons.  

Who’s getting better?

A team picked in the preseason to finish eighth out of nine teams in the preseason, the question I’m always asking is, “Who is making little improvements game-to-game?”

Two players I noticed who finally seem confident and totally engaged are freshmen Daxton Carr and Junior Ballard. Ballard made his first three-pointer at home and Carr’s energetic dunk in the first half helped keep the Mustangs out in front. Freshman Tuukka Jaakkola has also shown some improvement in video streams that have been available. All three will need to be real contributors for Cal Poly to play the way they want to on both ends come conference play. 

The Road Ahead

After taking finals this week, Cal Poly will head to Haas Pavillion in Berkeley to take on Cal on Saturday, followed by a quick trip to Bakersfield next Tuesday to play future conference opponent CSU Bakersfield. The next home game will be the Saturday before Christmas, when the Mustangs host UTA. The Mavericks, who beat Cal Poly easily 77-56 last season are just 3-6 this year. 

Photos by Owen Main. For more photos, visit photos.fansmanship.com .