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UP NEXT: The Roadrunner men's basketball team continues its four-game homestand
Saturday night by hosting Big West Conference frontrunner the
University of the Pacific at Rabobank Arena.
ON THE AIR: Saturday's game will be televised locally on Bright House Ch. 26.
Roadrunner basketball alumni Vance Palm and Beau Redstone will handle
the play-by-play and color duties. As always, you can follow all of the
action on the radio at KERN NewsTalk 1410 AM. Corey Costelloe will call
the play-by-play.
TICKETS, PLEASE: Tickets to all home
Roadrunner men's basketball games may be purchased online at
www.ticketmaster.com. For ticket package and group ticket information,
call the CSUB Athletics Ticket Office at (661) 654-BLUE.
LIVE STATS WEBCAST:
If you can't get to the game, follow the action with real-time live
stats via the JumpTV Game Watcher at www.gorunners.com. Choose "Live"
from the navigation menu on the left side of the page.
TIGER NOTES (9-4, 1-0 Big West): The Tigers might be the team to beat in the Big West after opening 9?4...have won 3 of 4 entering tonight's game... loss was a 75?58 setback at Fresno State...Jr. F Anthony Brown has led UOP five times, but ranks No. 3 at 10.4 ppg ...Jr. G Chad Troyer (12.1 ppg) enjoyed a 21? point effort in an 82?54 win over UCR Wednesday... Jr. G Steffan Johnson leads UOP at 14.8 ppg.
SERIES HISTORY: This will be the second regular season meeting between the 'Runners and the Tigers...CSUB led (62?60) in the final 3:30 but UOP came back to win 75?67 at the Spanos Center in the 2007 season opener...Dwuan Rice led CSUB with 24 points in the game...(Then) So. F Anthony Brown led UOP with 25.
ONLY PREVIOUS MEETING
2007 @ Pacific 75, 'RUNNERS 67
THIS DATE IN ROADRUNNER HISTORY: Dwuan Rice scored 27 points to lead the 'Runners back from an 18?point second?half deficit to win at Cal State Stanislaus 59?57 on Jan. 5, 2007.
SANTWON IS GONE: CSUB received some rough news when it learned that junior forward Santwon Latunde (Landover, Md./Cowley County College) will miss the rest of the season after injury his shoulder prior to the Cal Poly game. Latunde, who will seek a medical redshirt, was CSUB's leading rebounder (6.1 rpg) and second?leading scorer (10.6 ppg).
MORE BAD NEWS ON THE INJURY FRONT: The Roadrunners received another blow on the medical front when freshman guard Alex Johnson (Toronto/Vaughan Road Academy) left Wednesday's game vs. UC Davis after a collision in the waning seconds sent him to the training room with an injury to his shoulder area. His status for the weekend is TBD.
Johnson has made an immediate impact as a freshman, leading CSUB with 51 assists (3.6 apg) through 14 games. He also is shooting a team?best 47 percent (22-of-47) from beyond the arc this season.
ON THE REBOUND: Although the 'Runners came up just short on the scoreboard, they took a big leap forward in the rebounding department vs. UC Davis. CSUB out?rebounded the Aggies 36?25 in the game. The 11?rebound margin was the biggest of the season for the 'Runners and their biggest margin over an NCAA Division I opponent since they out?boarded Pepperdine 44?29 on Dec. 14, 2007.
CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARDS: That the 'Runners rebounding is improving as a team ? even without leading rebounder Santwon Latunde ? can be attributed in large part to the play of sophomore forward Trent Blakley (Alta Loma HS). With Latunde on the mend, Blakley has averaged a team?best 7.3 rpg over the past six games. Included in that span are three games in which he has equaled his career high of nine rebounds.
HE'S NUMBER TWO WHEN IT COMES TO THREES: Senior guard Zack Grasmick (Strathmore/ Granite Hills HS) has firmly established himself as the No. 2 three?point shooter in CSUB history. He enters Saturday's game against Pacific with 138 treys in his career, five better than former teammate Dwuan Rice.
In case you're wondering, Grasmick would have to average only 9.3 three?pointers per game over the final 15 games to catch all?time leader Kenny Warren (278) for the top spot.
...AND THE LITTLE ONES SHALL LEAD THEM: With an eye towards the future, the Roadrunners continue to play a rotation that leans heavily on their younger players. Freshmen and sophomores account for 36 of CSUB's 70 total starts this season and have played 1,489 of a possible 2,825 minutes this season (53 percent).
'RUNNERS VS. DI COMPETITION: Although 2007?08 is the first time the Roadrunners take on a full NCAA Division I schedule, it does not mark the first Bakersfield foray into NCAA Division I play. The 'Runners own an all?time mark of 20?55 in 75 games against 37 different Division I opponents. Note that this mark does not include games against current DI teams that were not DI when they met.
36 YEARS OF CSUB BASKETBALL: The 2007?2008 season marks the 37th anniversary of Roadrunner men's basketball at CSUB. Since the program's inception in 1971?72, the Roadrunners have posted an impressive all?time record of 733?317 (.698).
WHERE OTHERS HAVE GONE BEFORE: Making the leap from NCAA Division II to NCAA Division I play is a big step. It's also a step taken by several Roadrunner rivals over the past few seasons. Bakersfield is the sixth West Region school to make the jump since 1990. The others are: Cal Poly, Cal State Northridge, Sacramento State, UC Davis and UC Riverside.
In fact, DII and the California Collegiate Athletic Association have been jumping off points for many of the current DI programs in the West. All nine Big West Conference members are former DII schools and all but UC Irvine were formerly in the CCAA. Other former DII and CCAA schools from the West include Fresno State, Pepperdine, San Diego State and San Jose State.
