Men's Basketball February 24, 2007 CSU Bakersfield Athletic Communications

Rice's 22 Not Enough As Men Fall At Sonoma State

ROHNERT PARK, Calif. – The Cal State Bakersfield men's basketball team nearly pulled one out of the fire Saturday night but couldn't capitalize on several late opportunities in a 58-53 loss to Sonoma State Saturday night in Rhonert Park.

Bakersfield (14-13, 13-7 CCAA) nearly spoiled the coronation of Sonoma State forward J.T. Tipton as the school's all-time leading scorer, coming back from a late 11-point deficit to nearly win the game in th final minute. With the defense bearing down to get four consecutive stops late, however, Carl Damus missed a layup that would have cut the deficit to one point before Richard Andrews missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw opportunity that would then have given the Roadrunners the lead.

Trailing by three inside of 30 seconds, the 'Runners got the ball to Zack Grasmick for a pair of three-point attempts that would have tied the game at 56-56. But Grasmick missed both and the Seawolves then made two free throws to put the game away.

Senior guard Dwuan Rice (Pasadena HS) carried the 'Runner offense with 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting. But it wasn't enough to offset the 26-point, 11-rebound double-double with which Tipton led Sonoma.

The 'Runners return home to close out the season next weekend. They host Cal State San Bernardino Friday and Cal Poly Pomona Saturday with both games played in the Icardo Center on campus.

Sonoma State 58, Cal State Bakersfield 53

CS BAKERSFIELD (14–13, 13–7 CCAA): Richard Andrews 3-14 6-7 13; Demarcus Hall 2-3 0-0 4; Rick Robinson 2-4 0-1 4; Dwuan Rice 9-15 1-2 22; Zack Grasmick 0-4 0-0 0; Randall Harding 1-6 0-0 2; Robert Rose 0-0 0-0 0; Brandon Robinson 0-1 0-0 0; Carl Damus 3-7 2-2 8. TOTALS: 20-54 9-12 53.

SONOMA STATE (13–11, 12–8 CCAA): J.T. Tipton 10-16 2-3 26; Barry Weiss 3-5 0-0 6; Andrew Kochevar 4-8 0-0 11; Patrick Mitchell 0-4 0-1 0; Ben Washington 1-3 0-0 2; Mike Carr 2-4 1-1 5; Kevin Cornwell 0-0 0-0 0; Keith arner 2-4 0-0 4; Kyle Shandera 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 24-51 3-5 58.

HALFTIME: CSUB 33-31. 3-PT. FG: CSUB 4-14 (Rice 3-4, Andrews 1-5, B.Robinson, Grasmick 0-4); SSU 7-18 (Tipton 4-7, Kochevar 3-7, Carr 0-1, Mitchell 0-3). REBOUNDS: CSUB 36 (Rice 6); SSU 29 (Tipton 11). ASSISTS: CSUB 7 (Harding 4); SSU 15 (Mitchell 6). TURNOVERS: CSUB 14, SSU 11. BLOCKS: CSUB 5 (Harding 3); SSU 6 (Tipton 4). STEALS: CSUB 5 (Rice 2); SSU 3 (Tipton 2). TECHNICALS: None. FOULED OUT: None. OFFICIALS: Dreher, Candelaria, Harrison. ATTN: 1,763.