BAKERSFIELD, Calif. ? After dropping a series of heart-breaking close calls over the past several weeks, the CSUB men's basketball team found the formula to win one: jump out to a big early lead. The Roadrunners raced to a 12-point halftime lead then never let San Jose closer than five points in the second half of a 61-55 victory Monday night at Rabobank Arena.
CSUB (5-12 overall) played its sixth consecutive game decided by six or fewer points. But this one didn't come down to the wire, as the Roadrunners parried several comeback attempts by the Spartans (7-8) and took a nine-point lead into the final minute of regulation.
Alex Johnson (Toronto/Vaughan Road Academy) and Santwon Latunde (Landover, Md./Cowley County CC) led a balanced CSUB effort in which the five leaders scored between seven and 13 points. Johnson led the way with 13 points, including three three-pointers, while Latunde added 12 points and a game-high nine rebounds.
Rebounding proved to be one of the keys as the Roadrunners grabbed 19 offensive boards while out-rebounding San Jose State 40-33. San Jose State had come into the game out-rebounding its opponents by nearly five rebounds per game while limiting them to just 10.6 offensive boards a night.
CSUB also took advantage of its typically opportunistic defense, turning 17 Spartan turnovers into 21 points.
Both teams spent the opening minutes probing the other's zone defense. After San Jose State took its only lead of the game at 9-7, a Pat Carlson (Reno, Nev./Lassen College) three-pointer capped a rapid 7-0 run that put CSUB ahead 14-9. The Spartans closed the gap to 14-13 when three consecutive Latunde buckets sealed an 11-0 run that gave the Roadrunners a 25-13 lead.
The Spartans closed to within five points with 13 minutes remaining in the second half and again with 12 seconds left, but otherwise never got within two possessions of the lead.
Swingman DeShawn Wright scored 13 of his game-high 17 points in the second half to lead the Spartans. C.J. Webster added 10 points and nine rebounds.
CSUB returns to action Jan. 17, closing its brief two-game homestand against former CCAA rival UC Riverside. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. in Rabobank Arena.
CSU Bakersfield 61, San Jose State 55
SAN JOSE STATE (7?8): Wright 7-16 3-4 17; Webster 3-8 4-4 10; Oakes 0-2 2-2 2; Graham 3-9 5-6 11; Owens 2-3 6-6 12; Olivier 0-0 0-0 0; Thomas 0-1 0-2 0; Williams 0-2 1-2 1; Peterson 1-3 0-0 2; Caballero 0-1 0-0 0. TOTALS: 16-45 21-26 55.
CSU BAKERSFIELD (5?12): Blakley 3-10 0-0 7; Latunde 6-11 0-1 12; C. Brown 3-7 1-1 7; Johnson 3-9 4-6 13; Emanuel 0-2 0-0 0; Bragg 0-6 4-4 4; Johns 2-4 0-1 5; Carlson 3-7 2-2 9; Lara 1-5 0-0 2; Lee 0-0 2-2 2. TOTALS: 21-61 13-17 61.
Halftime: CSUB 29-17. 3-point goals--SJSU 2-10 (Owens 2-3, Williams 0-2, Peterson 0-2, Wright 0-3); CSUB 6-23 (Johnson 3-7, Johns 1-2, Blakley 1-5, C. Brown 0-1, Emanuel 0-2, , Bragg 0-3). Fouled out--Latunde. Rebounds--SJSU 33 (Webster 9); CSUB 40 (Latunde 9). Assists--SJSU 7 (Webster 4); CSUB 9 (Bragg 6). Total fouls--SJSU 13, CSUB 17. Technical fouls--none. A-1,493.
