SAN FRANCISCO – There was nothing wrong with the Cal State Bakersfield men's basketball team that a a healthy dose of Roadrunner defense couldn't cure. CSUB displayed a tenacious defensive effort to lead wire-to-wire at San Francisco State in an 80–64 win at the Swamp Friday night.
Bakersfield (1–3, 1–0 CCAA) jumped to a quick early lead thanks to a defense that forced 12 turnovers and held the Gators to 39 percent shooting in the first half. Senior center Carl Damus (Port St. Lucie, Fla./Pensacola JC) was a big part of Bakersfield's success on both ends of the floor. Defensively, he blocked three shots and grabbed seven rebounds. Offensively, SFSU had no answer for him as a he shared team–high honors with 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting despite playing just 17 minutes.
Senior guard Dwuan Rice (Pasadena HS) also chipped in 13 points and led a swarming perimeter defense with a game–high three steals. Randall Harding (Oklahoma City/Contra Coast CC) and Rick Robinson (Ocho Rios, Jamaica/SE Illinois) each added 11 points.
SFSU played some solid defense of its own against the bigger, more physical Roadrunners, and that kept the Gators in the game, for awhile. But a Damus tip–in with 5:09 remaining in the first half got the lead to double digits for the first time at 26–16 and the Gators never got closer than 10 points the rest of the way.
Bakersfield opened the second half with a quick 10–2 spurt that got the lead to 20 points for the first time at 45–25 just 2:30 into the period. The big lead allowed head coach Keith Brown to give his reserves extended playing time and several made big contributions. Freshmen guards Trent Blakley (Alta Loma HS) and Robert Rose (Sacramento/Sheldon HS) impressed, combing for 13 rebounds in just 20 total minutes of action.
The one area the Roadrunners did not shore up in the game was free throw shooting. They hit just 14-of-25 for the game, good for 56 percent. That is right at their season average, but a number Brown was hoping to improve upon this weekend.
The Roadrunners finish their Northern California swing Saturday night at Cal State Monterey Bay in Seaside. They return to NCAA Division I play Dec. 5 at the University of San Diego.
OTHER CCAA SCORES: Cal Poly Pomona 77, Sonoma State 71; Cal State San Bernardino 75, Humboldt State 68; Cal State Bakersfield 80, San Francisco State 64; Cal State Stanislaus 82, Cal State Dominguez Hills 75; Chico State 74, UC San Diego 67; Cal State Monterey Bay 75, Cal State L.A. 74.
CS BAKERSFIELD (1–3, 1–0 CCAA): Dwuan Rice 5-12 2-2 13; Randall Harding 5-7 1-5 11; Richard Andrews 3-6 2-4 8; Zack Grasmick 1-5 0-0 3; Carl Damus 5-6 3-4 13; Robert Rose 0-1 0-0 0; Brandon Robinson 1-6 2-2 4; Trent Blakley 3-5 0-2 6; Brandon Nevens 2-4 0-0 4; Demarcus Hall 2-3 3-4 7; Rick Robinson 5-9 1-2 11. TOTALS: 32-64 14-25 80.
SAN FRANCISCO STATE (2–2, 0–1 CCAA): Alex Thomas 5-9 5-5 15; David Van Someren 3-7 3-3 11; Jamil Muchell 1-4 0-0 2; Will Logan 3-9 4-5 11; Kajhal Benes 2-5 0-0 4; Lejoun Wilkerson 0-0 0-0 0; Arcenio Ramirez 1-3 0-1 2; Kevin Piva 0-0 0-0 0; Dean Wilson 5-7 1-1 14; Jonathan Beene 1-3 0-0 2; Derek Fletcher 1-3 0-1 2. TOTALS: 22-50 13-16 64.
HALFTIME: CSUB 35-23. 3-PT. FG: CSUB 2-13 (Grasmick 1-2, Rice 1-3, Andrews 0-1, Blakley 0-2, Nevens 0-2, B. Robinson 0-3); SFSU 7-17 (Wilson 3-5, Van Someren 2-5, Muchell 1-2, Logan 1-3, Thomas 0-1, Ramirez 0-1). REBOUNDS: CSUB 38 (Blakley 8); SFSU 31 (Logan, Fletcher 5). ASSISTS: CSUB 15 (Harding 4); SFSU 13 (Logan, Ramirez 3). TURNOVERS: CSUB 12, SFSU 23. BLOCKS: CSUB 7 (Damus 3); SFSU 1 (Fletcher). STEALS: CSUB 9 (Rice 3); SFSU 6 (Wilson 2). TECHNICALS: None. FOULED OUT: Fletcher. OFFICIALS: Scott, Johnson Ketchu. ATTN: 551.
