BAKERSFIELD, Calif. ? Donavan Bragg (Inglewood/Serra HS) gave CSUB fans an early Christmas present, scoring five points in the final 19 seconds to help lift the Roadrunner men's basketball team to a 66-64 win over Cal Poly Tuesday night in Rabobank Arena.
Bragg hit a pair of freethrows with 19 seconds left in regulation to put CSUB (4-9 overall) up 64-61. But Trae Clark answered with a three for Cal Poly to knot the score at 64-64. After a CSUB timeout, Head Coach Keith Brown put the ball in Bragg's hands and the sophomore guard delivered, knifing through the lane to float home a short, running jumper with two seconds remaining for the win.
Junior forward Trent Blakley (Alta Loma HS) came off the bench for the first time this season, but still played 35 minutes and led CSUB with 17 points and eight rebounds. Sophomore guard Alex Johnson (Toronto/Vaughan Road Academy) gave another strong performance with 10 points, while matching his season high with seven assists.
Senior forward Titus Shelton, a former Bakersfield High School star, led all players with 19 points and nine rebounds for Cal Poly (3-6).
The game featured both teams being a bit more generous than normal. CSUB turned the ball over 14 times in the first half to negate a solid 55 percent (12-of-22) shooting effort. Cal Poly, one of the nation's top teams in terms of taking care of the basketball, finished with 14 turnovers for the game, one off its season high.
The Mustangs finished the first half on a 5-0 run to take a 32-29 lead into the lockerroom. But the Roadrunners came out inspired, opening the second half on a 15-2 run to seize the biggest lead for either team at 46-35 with 12 minutes remaining.
Cal Poly chipped away at the deficit until it eventually took its last lead at 61-59 on Shelton's final bucket of the game with 53 seconds on the clock. That's when freshman Bryan Emanuel (Bellflower/Mayfair HS) stepped up to make two big plays for CSUB.
First, he hit a three-pointer with 23 seconds left to put the Roadrunners back on top, 62-61. On the ensuing Cal Poly possession, he drew a charge from Mustang guard Chaz Thomas to set up th frenetic final sequence and Bragg's ultimate heroics.
CSUB will take a week off over the Christmas holiday before returning to action Dec. 30 when the University of Portland makes its first-ever visit to Rabobank Arena.
CSU Bakersfield 66, Cal Poly 64
CAL POLY (3?6): Lewis 4-9 2-2 13; Dipprey 1-2 0-0 2; Shelton 5-8 8-10 18; Thomas 3-10 2-4 8; Keeler 1-8 2-2 5; Clark 2-4 2-2 8; Henning 0-3 0-0 0; Anderson 0-0 0-0 0; Hanson 4-6 0-0 10. TOTALS: 20-50 16-20 64.
CSU BAKERSFIELD (4?9): Emanuel 4-8 0-1 10; C. Brown 1-2 0-0 2; Lee 0-1 0-0 0; Johnson 4-8 0-0 10; Johns 1-2 0-0 2; Dennis 0-1 0-0 0; Bragg 3-4 2-2 9; Blakley 7-11 0-0 17; R. Brown 0-0 0-0 0; Carlson 2-5 0-0 5; Lara 1-1 0-0 2; Latunde 3-6 3-3 9. TOTALS: 26-49 5-6 66.
Halftime: CP 32-29. 3-point goals--CP 8-22 (Lewis 3-7, Hanson 2-2, Clark 2-3, Keeler 1-4, Henning 0-1, Thomas 0-5); CSUB 9-19 (Blakley 3-4, Johnson 2-4, Emanuel 2-6, Bragg 1-1, Carlson 1-3, Dennis 0-1). Fouled out--None. Rebounds--CP 26 (Shelton 9); CSUB 29 (Blakley 8). Assists--CP 11 (Thomas 5); CSUB 15 (Johnson 7). Total fouls--CP 11, CSUB 17. Technical fouls--none. A-1,376.
