Mustangs still riding high after upset win at 11th ranked UCLA

Posted: Nov 26, 2012 5:37 PM by Andrew Masuda
Updated: Nov 26, 2012 8:16 PM

Mustangs still riding high after historic win at UCLA

The Cal Poly men's basketball team is still smiling after pulling off the biggest win in program history Sunday night at 11th ranked UCLA.

"We were having a contest on the bus about who was getting the most text messages on the 3 hour bus ride. So everybody was kind of excited about that. But I think it does wonders for our team, it does wonders for our morale and it does wonders for our community," said junior Chris Eversley, who scored 15 points and pulled down 10 rebounds against the Bruins in his second career double-double.

Cal Poly stunned 11th ranked UCLA 70-68 to hand the Bruins their first loss at the revamped legendary Pauley Pavilion. It marked the program's first win over a ranked team since turning Division I nineteen years ago. On top of that, the upset came against one of the elite programs in all of college sports.

"I think the fact that it's UCLA, that it's such a storied program with so many championships. We went in and saw all the trophies that they had and all the championship plaques so to look at that before the game and then come on top after the game definitely was huge for us," said senior guard Dylan Royer. The Los Osos native was huge for the Mustangs knocking down a career-high six 3-pointers. His career-tying best 18 point effort landed him the Big West Conference's Player of the Week award on Monday.

The Mustangs trailed by as many as 18 in the second half, but battled back. Evesley's tip-in gave Cal Poly a 67-65 lead with less than two minutes to play. With the game tied at 68-68 UCLA's Norman Powell fouled Cal Poly's Kyle Odister with 14 seconds to play. Powell told the media after the game he thought the Bruins were down by one and needed to foul. Odister knocked down both free throws to give Cal Poly the lead for good.

With the win, the Mustangs stormed onto the map, or at least on to ESPN's website and on Sports Center. The Mustangs are determined to show it's the start of something special.

"The biggest thing we have to do now is prove it. We have to prove it. We have Saint Mary's on Saturday so it's a real good test for us to show people we're for real and this game wasn't a fluke," said assistant coach Sam Kirby.

Cal Poly head coach Joe Callero stayed in the Los Angeles area on Monday to recruit players in the area and strike while the iron is hot.

The loss knocked UCLA out of the Top 25 on Monday.