Eversley, Odister rise to the occasion in Cal Poly's come-from-behind win

Posted: Feb 7, 2013 10:34 PM by Andrew Masuda
Updated: Feb 7, 2013 11:12 PM

Odister, Eversley lead Mustangs to come from behind win over Pacific

Junior forward Chris Eversley's seventh double-double of the season -- 21 points and 10 rebounds -- lifted Cal Poly to its 10th consecutive home conference victory, 67-62 over Pacific on Thursday night before 2,213 in the Mott Athletics Center.

Eversley's ninth career double-double helped Cal Poly overcome a six-minute 14-0 scoring drought in the first half and gave head coach Joe Callero's Mustangs a 10-11 overall mark. Cal Poly is 6-5 in Big West Conference play for a fourth-place tie.

Pacific, led by senior forward Travis Fulton's 19 points, fell to 13-9 and 7-3.

Pacific made just one of its first nine floor shots and trailed 7-2 in the opening seven minutes. Cal Poly then missed 12 consecutive floor shots over a span of eight minutes and 30 seconds, falling behind 16-7. Freshman center Brian Bennett ended the drought with a layup with 4:49 to go and the Mustangs eventually pulled to within one point, 21-20, at the break, closing out the first half with a 10-2 run.

Pacific continued to lead in the second half until Eversley hit a three-pointer with 7:17 to play, giving Cal Poly a 46-45 advantage. Junior guard Sama Taku's one free throw with 6:52 to go tied the game at 46-46 before the Mustangs went on a 17-7 run to pull away. Junior guard Kyle Odister capped the spree with two free throws for a 63-53 Cal Poly lead with 1:03 to play and Pacific could get no closer than the final five-point margin of victory.

Both teams shot less than 30 percent in the low-scoring first half. Cal Poly's 25.9 percent reading from the floor (seven of 27) was its second-lowest of the season. The shooting picked up in the second half for both teams as Cal Poly made 58 percent and Pacific 48 percent. The Mustangs outscored the Tigers 47-1 in the second half.

For the game, Cal Poly made 41.2 percent of its floor shots, including six of 13 from behind the arc, while Pacific connected on 38.9 percent of its field goal attempts, nine of 24 from long range.

Eversley made seven of 14 floor shots and six of nine free throws. He also dished out three assists. Odister came off the bench to contribute 14 points while Bennett added eight points and 10 boards.

The Mustangs outrebounded the Tigers 39-35 and each team turned the ball over 12 times. Junior forward Khalil Kelley grabbed eight rebounds for Pacific.

Cal Poly is the only team in the Big West to defeat each of the top four teams in the conference -- Long Beach State, Hawai'i, Pacific and UC Irvine.

The Mustangs host UC Davis on Saturday at 7 p.m. in the Mott Athletics Center. The Aggies earned a come-from-behind 69-67 win over Cal Poly in their first meeting in Davis on Jan. 10.