Terrell Gomez may only be five feet eight inches, but his production during the season for CSUN men’s basketball has been anything but short.
The freshman had 20 points and CSUN defeated Cal Poly at home 72-54 for its second consecutive win against a Big West opponent.
CSUN (5-14, 2-3) played with a heightened sense of urgency as the win helped climb the Matadors into the Big West playoff race. Tavrion Dawson scored 25 points with 10 rebounds. Lyrik Shreiner added 12 points and 11 rebounds and Micheal Warren had 10.
It was also the first time CSUN won consecutive games against Big West opponents when the Matadors won three straight games against UC Santa Barbara, Long Beach State and UC Riverside on Feb. 1, 2017.
The Matadors went on a 10-2 run to start the first half and never looked back. CSUN limited Cal Poly’s penetration on offense and CSUN led 36-21 following Jonathan Guevara’s left-handed layup at the buzzer before halftime.
“This was one of the most complete games that we have played all season,” Theus said. “It was weird because Cal Poly had a bit of a size advantage but played small and it played right into our hands.”
Dawson, Shreiner and Gomez’s production came in phases. Dawson set the table in the first half with 14 points, Shreiner made three 3-pointers in the second half and then Gomez took over to finish off the Mustangs.
Donovan Fields had 14 points and Josh Martin added 13 points with 10 rebounds for Cal Poly (6-13, 1-4) but the Mustangs shot only 35.7 percent and made only three 3-pointers on 21 attempts.
“We just got tired of coach calling us soft during our losses,” Dawson said. “We just wanted to go out there and play hard and we put together a team win here tonight.”
