Cal Poly 59, St. Mary’s 52

MORAGA, Calif. (AP)—Guard Jason Allen grabbed a critical rebound with 40 seconds to play and sealed the game with four free throws in the final 30 seconds to lead Cal Poly to a 59-52 non-conference victory over St. Mary’s on Saturday.

St. Mary’s Daniel Kickert missed an uncontested layup, and Allen got the rebound with 40 seconds to play. He made two free throws with 29.8 seconds left to give Cal Poly (4-5) a 57-52 lead.

After Adam Caporn missed for St. Mary’s (5-5), Allen got the ball again and sank two more free throws with 12.9 seconds to play.

Allen finished with 16 points, hitting 8 of 11 free throws. Thirteen of his points came in the final 9:32 of the game.

Varney Dennis led Cal Poly with 20 points and seven rebounds, both game highs, but he went to the bench with his fourth foul with 9:48 to play and only played 30 seconds when he returned before fouling out.

Cal Poly built an early 21-9 lead only to see St. Mary’s cut the lead to one during an 11-0 run. that saw Chase Poole score six points. Poole’s final basket during the run, a driving dunk, came at the 9:13 mark and was the Gaels last field goal of the half.

St. Mary’s went 10:48 without scoring a field goal before Daniel Kickert scored with 18:25 to go in the game. A Dennis field goal and free throw were Cal Poly’s only points in the second half before Allen’s 3-pointer with 9:24 to play. Poole led St. Mary’s with 16 points. Kickert added 12 and Travis Herr scored 10.