SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. ? Eight good minutes proved not good enough for the CSUB men's basketball team as the Roadrunners fell at former Division II rival Cal Poly 66?56 Saturday night at Mott Gymnasium in San Luis Obispo.
Freshman point guard Alex Johnson (Toronto) turned from assist man to scorer, pouring in a game and career?high 15 points to lead Bakersfield (1?9 overall). Junior forward Donald Lee (L.A. Pierce College) also provided a spark off the bench, chipping in four points and six rebounds.
Lee was forced to play after Santwon Latunde (Landover, Md. Cowley County CC) injured a shoulder in practice Thursday. Without their leading scorer and second?leading rebounder, it figured to be a long night inside for the Roadrunners; and early on, it was.
CSUB shot less than 30 percent from the floor in the first half while turning the ball over 11 times. Cal Poly took advantage to build leads as big as 14 points in the period before settling on a 33?23 lead at halftime.
The Roadrunners continued to struggle from the field to open the second half, but their energy level increased in other areas. Bakersfield out?rebounded Cal Poly 21?9 to begin the second half, trimming the lead to five points at 46?41. Two minutes later, a Donavan Bragg (Inglewood/Serra HS) three?pointer got Bakersfield to within two at 49?47.
That, however, is when the clock struck midnight on the Roadrunners.
Dawin Whiten who went 1-for-10 from the field, made his only field good a big one when he drilled a long three from the corner to restore Cal Poly's five?point cushion. The wheels fell off the wagon for CSUB on the next two possessions when they basically let the shot clock run all the way down without running offense. The possessions resulted in a turnover and a desperation three attempt that Cal Poly converted into two more scores and a 56?47 lead that would not be threatened.
CSUB continues its three?game road trip when it heads to Utah for a rematch against Weber State Tuesday night in Ogden.
Cal Poly 66, CSU Bakersfield 56
CSU BAKERSFIELD (1?9 overall) -- Johns 0-13 2-2 2; Grasmick 1-2 3-4 6; C. Brown 3-7 0-0 6; Johnson 5-7 3-3 15; Blakley 2-7 1-2 5; Bragg 4-6 0-0 10; R. Brown 0-2 0-0 0; Hall 1-7 2-4 4; Robinson 1-2 2-4 4; Lee 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 19-56 13-19 40.
CAL POLY (5?5 overall) -- Whiten 1-10 2-2 5; Shelton 2-4 3-6 7; Hanson 6-8 1-3 14; Clark 6-12 1-2 15; Thomas 3-6 2-2 8; Keeler 3-9 2-3 10; Anderson 0-2 0-0 0; Lewis 0-0 0-0 0; Vance 3-7 1-1 7; Manley 0-0 0-2 0. Totals 24-58 12-21 66.
Halftime: CP 33-23. 3-point goals--CSUB 5-19 (Bragg 2-3, Johnson 2-4, Grasmick 1-1, R. Brown 0-1, Blakley 0-2, Johns 0-8); CP 6-21 (Clark 2-5, Keeler 2-6, Hanson 1-1, Whiten 1-5, Thomas 0-1, Vance 0-1, Anderson 0-2). Fouled out--none. Rebounds--CSUB 40 (Lee, Robinson 6); CP 38 (Hanson, Shelton 8). Assists--CSUB 7 (3 players with 2); CP 13 (Shelton 3). Total fouls--CSUB 16, CP 16. Technical fouls--none. A-1,617.
