Cal State San Marcos Athletics

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – The Cal State San Marcos men's basketball team (0-0) unofficially opened its 2026-27 season with a 78-62 exhibition loss at Cal Poly (1-0) on Monday night at Mott Athletics Center.

TOP PERFORMERS
Wyatt VonBlanco - 13 points | 3 steals | 3 rebounds | 2 assists
Chris Carrillo - 10 points | 1 steal
Mikey Aikhionbare - 10 points | 4 rebounds | 2 steals

HOW IT HAPPENED

• CSUSM began the game with a 4-1 lead, getting a layup from Jaylin Leslie and a jumper from Chase Mayo Harmon at the 17:07 mark.
• Back-to-back threes by Cal Poly's Austin Goode gave the Mustangs their first lead with 16:29 to go in the half.
• Cal Poly took its largest lead of the half at 17 points after a three and a pair of free throws by Guzman Vasilic put the Mustangs ahead 30-13 with 4:03 to go in the half.
• Trailing by 16, CSUSM went on a 7-0 run with a jumper by Chris Carillo, three free throws by Mikey Aikhionbare and two more free throws by Carrillo to cut the deficit to 33-24 with 1:41 left in the half.
• The Cougars trailed 35-24 at the half after shooting just 18.4% (7-of-38) from the field while the Mustangs clocked in at 45.8% (11-of-24).
• CSUSM took advantage of Cal Poly's 16 first-half turnovers by scoring 14 points off them while just committing three of their own to along with 10 steals.
• The Mustangs took their largest lead of the game on a fast-break dunk by Jess Esso Essis with 9:44 remaining in the second half.
• CSUSM brought the deficit back down to 15 at 75-60 with a 6-0 run on a jumper by Aikhionbare, two free throws by Will Ambidge and a layup by Aikhionbare with 1:51 to go.
• The Cougars shot 36.4% (12-of-33) from the field in the second half while going 46.2% (6-of-13) from beyond the arc.

FAST BREAKS

• The Cougars ended the game shooting 26.8% (19-of-71) from the field while the Mustangs finished at 44.3% (27-of-61).
• CSUSM had a 15-7 edge in steals while committing just 12 turnovers to Cal Poly's 25.
• The Broncos led the game in rebounds (59-36), assists (18-4) and blocks (6-2).
• Of the Cougars' 62 points, 32 came from their bench.
• This was the first meeting between the Cougars and Mustangs.

UP NEXT
With its one and only exhibition out of the way, CSUSM will officially open its 2026-27 season at Vanguard on Monday, Nov. 9 at 7:30 p.m. in Costa Mesa.