UAA Athletics

Cal Poly sharpshooters take down College of Charleston

The last Great Alaska Shootout got its first upset Wednesday afternoon.

The Cal Poly Mustangs surprised the College of Charleston 73-68 to earn a spot in Friday's semifinals and a day off Thursday.

"We get to have Thanksgiving dinner without worrying about a game tomorrow night," Cal Poly coach Joe Callero said. "Our players are voting to sleep in, so we'll let them sleep as much as (is) reasonable and then have a shootaround."

Then they'll eat dinner, and then maybe they'll venture outside.

"Kuba's gonna show us how to ride a moose," Callero said.

Kuba is Jakub Niziol, a 6-foot-7 junior from Wroclaw, Poland, who came off the bench to ignite the Mustangs with 5-of-5 3-point shooting. He drained four of his 3-pointers in the second half to help Cal Poly (3-2) hold off Charleston (2-2).

Charleston is coming off a 25-win season, is the preseason pick to win the Colonial Athletic Association and was considered one of the favorites to win the 40th and final Shootout. But the Cougars had no answer to Cal Poly's long-range shooting.

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"They really shot the ball well," Cougars coach Earl Grant said. "They played well as a team and they made big shots we couldn't overcome."

Cal Poly was 14 of 25 behind the arc for the game and 9 of 16 for the second half. Victor Joseph hit 4 of 6 and Donovan Fields hit 3 of 5 to give the Mustangs multiple 3-point threats.

Niziol, who assisted on one of Joseph's second-half treys, credited his teammates' passing for his shooting.

"It all comes from the pass," Niziol said as he scanned the stat sheet. "We had 17 assists on 24 baskets and only 14 turnovers."

Chimed in Callero: "He's a smart player. He knows what stats we're gonna talk about."

Joseph finished with a team-high 20 points, Fields finished with 17 points and six assists and Niziol had 15 points.

Charleston's Joe Chealey, a 6-4 senior guard who is the preseason CAA Player of the Year, pumped in a game-high 25 points to go with 10 assists and gave the Cougars a chance to tie it at the end.

With time running out, he and Evan Bailey each drained a 3-pointer in a span of four seconds to bring Charleston within a possession, 71-68, with four seconds left. But after a timeout, Joseph drew a quick foul and hit both free throws to give Cal Poly a five-point cushion with three seconds left.

Charleston will return to the Alaska Airlines Center on Thursday for a 5:30 p.m. consolation game against the loser of Wednesday's game between Sam Houston State and Central Michigan.

Teams that play consolation games Thursday will get Friday off, but Grant said he doesn't know what his team will do with its free day.

"We had a plan for a (Thursday) day off," he said. "We never thought about losing. We'll figure out what to do from here."

Beth Bragg

Beth Bragg wrote about sports and other topics for the ADN for more than 35 years, much of it as sports editor. She retired in October 2021. She's contributing coverage of Alaskans involved in the 2022 Winter Olympics.

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