IRVINE, Calif. ? The CSUB men's basketball team played 15 minutes of its best basketball this season to open Wednesday's night's game against Big West foe UC Irvine. But late foul trouble in the first half and a red-hot start to the second half by the hosts resulted in an 85-72 Anteater win at the Bren Events Center.
UCI came into the game ranked No. 20 nationally in three-point shooting at 39 percent. The Anteaters upped that average by connecting on 54 percent (7-of-13) from beyond the arc against the Roadrunners. That effort opened the door for center Eric Wise to have a big game. The freshman led all players with a 20-point, 10-rebound double-double.
CSUB (5-14 overall) led by as many as 10 points several times in the first half, the last at 35-25 with less than four minutes remaining. But late foul trouble to leading scorers Trent Blakley (Alta Loma HS) and Santwon Latunde (Landover, Md./Cowley County CC) stifled the Roadrunner offense and the Anteaters took advantage, crawling to within 38-35 at the break.
It took Irvine a little more than two minutes to grab the lead, 42-40, on a Micahel Hunter three-pointer. A Terrence Johns (Chicago/Bakersfield College) jumper tied the game on CSUB's next possession, but that was just a speed bump in a 14-4 Anteater run that gave them a 49-42 lead. CSUB never got within one possession of the lead again.
Blakley led a balanced CSUB offense with 18 points and seven rebounds. Johns chipped in 10 points, seven boards and a game-high five assists.
In addition to Wise, Hunter scored 17 points for UCI, including three three-point field goals.
CSUB will take the weekend off before heading to Oregon for a game at Pac-10 member Oregon State.
UC Irvine 85, CSU Bakersfield 72
CSU BAKERSFIELD (5?14): Blakley 6-14 5-6 18; C. Brown 1-1 2-2 4; Johnson 3-10 3-4 11; Emanuel 2-5 0-0 6; Johns 4-8 2-3 11; Bragg 4-6 2-4 10; R. Brown 0-0 0-0 0; Carlson 0-1 0-0 0; Lara 0-0 0-0 0; Latunde 4-9 2-3 10; Lee 1-1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 25-55 16-22 72.
UC IRVINE (6?12): Folker 3-6 1-2 7; Wise 6-9 8-10 20; Bland 6-9 2-2 14; Hunter 6-11 2-3 17; Lauer 2-4 4-4 9; Rembert 3-5 3-5 11; DeCasas 0-0 0-0 0; Strings 3-7 0-0 7; Atkinson 0-2 0-0 0. TOTALS: 29-53 20-26 85.
Halftime: CSUB 38-35. 3-point goals--CSUB 6-19 (Emanuel 2-5, Johnson 2-4, Johns 1-3, Blakley 1-5, Bragg 0-1, Carlson 0-1); UCI 7-13 (Hunter 3-6, Rembert 2-2, Strings 1-2, Lauer 1-3). Fouled out--None. Rebounds--CSUB 28 (Blakley, Johns 7); UCI 32 (Bland 10). Assists--CSUB 11 (Johns 5); UCI 18 (Rembert 5). Total fouls--CSUB 20, UCI 19. Technical fouls--Bland, Latunde. A-933.
