BAKERSFIELD, Calif. ? It was an ending worthy of one of the top rivalries in CSUB history, but the ending was a sour one for Roadrunner fans as the CSUB men's basketball team fell to former CCAA mate UC Davis 62?59 at Rabobank Arena Wednesday night.
CSUB (3-11 overall) nearly overcame a 10-point deficit inside of the final four minutes of regulation. But the 'Runners missed three three-point attempts in the final 20 seconds with a chance to tie the game.
Sophomore forward Shane Hanson poured in a game-high 23 points, including a season-high five three-point field goals, to lead Davis (6-7) to the win. Junior forward Kyle Brucculeri added 15 points and a team-high six rebounds.
Junior swingman Terrence Johns (Chicago/Bakersfield College) led the ?Runners with 14 points. Senior forward Demarcus Hall (Richmond/College of the Sequoias) matched Johns' 14 points -- a career-high for Hall -- and led all rebounders with seven boards as CSUB built a season-best 36-25 rebounding advantage.
Davis jumped out to a quick 13-6 start, but the game remained tight after that early spurt. Vince Oliver's late layup was the only difference in the first half as the Aggies went to the break leading 25-23.
Things stayed tight well into the second half until the Aggies responded to CSUB's final lead of the night, 44-43, with a 13-2 run that gave Davis a 56-46 lead with 3:59 to play. Bakersfield kept the game within reach, however, getting back to withing one possession when freshman guard Donavan Bragg (Inglewood/Serra HS) made a driving layup, was fouled, and completed the three-point play to get the ?Runners with three at 62-59 with 27 seconds remaining.
CSUB played suffocating defense on the ensuing inbounds play, trapping freshman guard Ryan Silva in the corner where he traveled to give the ?Runners what promised to be one final shot. But Bragg missed an NBA-range three-point attempt before fouling Oliver.
Needing to make just one free throw to ice the game, Oliver missed two. Bakersfield raced downcourt and got two more looks at a potential game-tying three but couldn't get one to fall and the Aggies held on for their first road win of the season.
CSUB returns to action Saturday night when it hosts another Big West Conference opponent -- the University of the Pacific -- at Rabobank Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
UC Davis 62, CSU Bakersfield 59
UCD (6-7) -- HANSON 8-13 2-2 23; BRUCCULERI 6-10 0-0 15; OLIVER 4-8 3-7 11; PAYNE 3-4 1-2 8; CLARK 1-3 0-0 3; CARTER 1-5
0-0 2; PORTZ 0-0 0-0 0; SILVA 0-1 0-0 0; TOTH 0-1 0-0 0; BOONE 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-45 6-11 62.
CSUB (3-11) -- HALL 6-9 2-4 14; JOHNS 4-10 2-2 14; JOHNSON 4-8 0-2 11; C. BROWN 3-5 0-0 6; BLAKLEY 2-9 2-2 6; GRASMICK 2-9 0-0 5; BRAGG 1-5 1-1 3; ROBINSON 0-0 0-0 0; R. BROWN 0-1 0-0 0; ROSE 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-56 7-11 59.
Halftime -- UCD 25-23. 3-point goals--UCD 10-23 (HANSON 5-8; BRUCCULERI 3-7; PAYNE 1-2; CLARK 1-2; SILVA 0-1; TOTH 0-1; OLIVER 0-2), CSUB 8-22 (JOHNS 4-7; JOHNSON 3-5; GRASMICK 1-6; BRAGG 0-3; BROWN 0-1). Fouled out--UCD-None, CSUB-None. Rebounds--UCD 25 (BRUCCULERI 6), CSUB 36 (BLAKLEY 9). Assists--UCD 19 (OLIVER 6), CSUB 18 (JOHNSON 6). Total fouls--UCD 11, CSUB 15. Technical fouls--UCD-None, CSUB-None. A-1789.
