MORAGA, Calif. ? West Coast Conference favorite Saint Mary's College played a solid all?around game to defeat the CSUB men's basketball team 94?66 Tuesday night at McKeon Pavilion in Moraga.
Omar Samhan led the Gaels (3?0 overall) with a game?high 25 points. Diamon Simpson chipped in a game?high 11 rebounds. Bakersfield College transfer Terrence Johns led a trio of CSUB (0?2) scorers in double figures with 19 points. Freshman center Cory Brown added 14 points and seven boards.
“Samhan had 25, but their point guard was exceptional,” said Bakersfield Head Coach Keith Brown of Gael freshman Patrick Mills. “He only had four points, but he dominated the game. He may be the best point guard we will see all year.”
Mills wasn't the only freshman Brown lavished praise on Tuesday night. He also was pleased with the play of Cory Brown, who played a game?high 33 minutes in just his second collegiate outing.
“He's just a freshman, but Cory is in the best shape of all of our front line players,” said Coach Brown. “He is doing a lot of good things on the floor and when he makes makes mistakes he is still aggressive.”
The Roadrunners led early in the game and were still close until Saint Mary's made a run late in the first half. Clinging to a 36?30 lead with just over three minutes remaining, the Gaels went on an 11?2 run to close the first half up 47?32. They slowly extended that lead in the early stages of the second half, increasing their advantage to 20 at 63?43 with 12:22 to play before cruising down the stretch.
CSUB comes home to play its first NCAA Division I home game in more than 20 years Saturday when they take on valley rival Fresno State at Rabobank Arena. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
Saint Mary's College 94, CSU Bakersfield 66
CSUB (0-2) -- JOHNS, Terrence 7-16 5-7 19; BROWN, Cory 6-11 2-3 14; LATUNDE, Santwon 4-7 2-3 10; BRAGG, Donavan 2-5 0-1 5; ROSE, Robert 2-5 0-0 5; BLAKLEY, Trent 2-4 1-1 5; BROWN, Ryan 2-3 0-0 4; GRASMICK, Zack 1-5 0-0 3; ROBINSON, Rick 0-1 1-2 1; HALL, Demarcus 0-1 0-0 0; JOHNSON, Alex 0-3 0-0 0; STEWART, Javarus 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-61 11-17 66.
SMC (3-0) -- SAMHAN, Omar 11-15 3-4 25; O'LEARY, Ian 7-8 2-2 19; SMITH, Tron 4-9 3-4 11; GOLDEN, Todd 2-5 3-4 9; SIMPSON, Diamon 3-8 2-4 8; SMITH, Yusef 2-3 0-0 6; McCONNELL, Mickey 2-3 0-0 5; MILLS, Patrick 2-7 0-0 4; HUGHES, Carlin 1-8 2-2 4; WALKER, Lucas 1-3 1-2 3; WILLIAMS, DuBois 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 35-71 16-22 94.
Halftime: SMC 47-32. 3-point goals--CSUB 3-16 (GRASMICK, Zack 1-3; BRAGG, Donavan 1-2; ROSE, Robert 1-2; BLAKLEY, Trent 0-2; BROWN, Ryan 0-1; JOHNSON, Alex 0-2; JOHNS, Terrence 0-4), SMC 8-28 (O'LEARY, Ian 3-3; GOLDEN, Todd 2-5; SMITH, Yusef 2-3; McCONNELL, Mickey 1-2; HUGHES, Carlin 0-4; WALKER, Lucas 0-2; WILLIAMS, DuBois 0-2; MILLS, Patrick 0-3; SIMPSON, Diamon 0-1; SMITH, Tron 0-2; SAMHAN, Omar 0-1). Fouled out--CSUB-None, SMC-None. Rebounds--CSUB 39 (BROWN, Cory 7), SMC 39 (SIMPSON, Diamon 11). Assists--CSUB 8 (GRASMICK, Zack 3), SMC 20 (MILLS, Patrick 6). Total fouls--CSUB 19, SMC 17. Technical fouls--CSUB-None, SMC-None. A-1620
