COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. ? The CSUB men's basketball team saw a solid effort sabotaged by a poor shooting afternoon in a 70?62 loss at Air Force Sunday.
CSUB (0-2 overall) led 35-32 at the half, but shot just 30 percent from the field in the second half. Air Force (2-0) took the lead for good eight minutes into the second half and then held off several Roadrunner comeback efforts.
“I thought we had some good execution offensively,” said CSUB Head Coach Keith Brown. “But if you look at our field goal percentage, we didn't finish, especially inside where we had the chance to go up strong and score or draw fouls, but we didn't get it done.”
One Roadrunner who did get it done was junior guard Pat Carlson (Reno, Nev./Lassen CC) who finished with a game-high 21 points, including 5-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc.
“I was glad to see Pat step up today,” said Brown. “We had some things in offensively for him. He needed to step up and prove he could hit the shot and he did.”
CSUB didn't shoot well in the first half either, but the 'Runners played well enough to forge a three-point lead, 35-32, at intermission thanks to Carlson's buzzer-beating three in transition. Junior forward Trent Blakley (Alta Loma HS) chipped in eight points in each half on 6-of-11 shooting, but he was the only 'Runner aside from Carlson who didn't struggle.
With their post players combining to hit just 5-of-17 from the floor despite working for some golden scoring opportunities, Air Force was able to overcome the Blakley-Carlson connection to grab the lead for good at 44-41 on a Trevor Noonan three-pointer eight minutes into the second half.
The Falcons eventually forged a 56-46 lead before CSUB climbed back. The 'Runners kept it close for the duration and trailed by just three at 60-57 with 2:56 remaining, but couldn't get over the hump as the Falcons held on.
CSUB will return Bakersfield for its home opener Friday when it hosts Big West Conference preseason favorite Cal State Northridge at Rabobank Arena.
Air Force 70, CSU Bakersfield 62
CSU BAKERSFIELD (0-2) -- Carlson 8-14 0-0 21; Blakley 6-11 3-5 16; Latunde 3-11 4-5 10; Johns 2-9 0-0 5; Lara 1-4 2-2 4; Emanuel 1-6 0-0 3; C. Brown 1-2 0-0 2; Bragg 0-2 1-2 1; Lee 0-0 0-0 0; R. Brown 0-0 0-0 0; Machado 0-1 0-0 0; Dennis 0-1 0-0 0; Johnson 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 22-65 10-14 62.
AIR FORCE (2-0) -- Johnson 5-13 5-8 15; Stewart 4-7 3-4 13; Parker 3-6 6-8 12; Henke 3-6 2-3 10; Noonan 3-5 1-2 8; Washington 3-6 1-1 7; McLain 1-2 0-0 3; Holland 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 23-49 18-26 70.
Halftime--CSUB 35-32. 3-point goals--CSUB 8-29 (Carlson 5-10; Johns 1-4; Emanuel 1-6; Blakley 1-2; Bragg 0-1; Machado 0-1; Dennis 0-1; Johnson 0-4), AF 6-12 (Stewart 2-2; Henke 2-3; Noonan 1-3; McLain 1-1; Holland 0-2; Parker 0-1). Fouled out--CSUB-None, AF-None. Rebounds--CSUB 38 (Latunde 10), AF 38 (Stewart 10). Assists--CSUB 14 (Bragg 5), AF 18 (Noonan 5). Total fouls--CSUB 24, AF 12. Technical fouls--None. A-2824
