LOS ANGELES ? The CSUB men's basketball team got off to a sizzling start, then went monumentally cold as Loyola Marymount erased a 17-point deficit to defeat the Roadrunners 72-69 Sunday afternoon in Gersten Pavilion.
Junior forward Santwon Latunde (Landover, Md./Cowley County CC) came off the bench to record his third double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds for CSUB. Junior forward Trent Blakley (Alta Loma HS) added 19 points and seven rebounds.
Jarred DuBois set a Loyola Marymount freshman scoring record with 39 points to lead all scorers for the Lions.
CSUB (4-12 overall) made nine of its first 11 from the field while building a 23-6 lead midway through the first half. But the Roadrunners shot just 30 percent (14-of-46) the rest of the way, setting the stage for an epic comeback effort by LMU.
The Lions (1-15) trimmed the deficit to six, 38-32, by halftime, but the Roadrunners didn't give up the lead easily. LMU finally took the lead for the first time when DuBois made a pair of free throws for a 57-56 edge with 6:05 remaining. Those points were part of a 14-3 run that turned a 53-49 CSUB advantage into a 63-57 deficit.
But the Roadrunners didn't roll over. Trailing by six with 36 seconds remaining, Terrence Johns (Chicago/Bakersfield College) knocked down a three-pointer from the corner to make it 70-67. Donavan Bragg (Inglewood/Serra HS) then stole the inbounds pass and finished a layup to pull the ?Runners to within one at 70-69.
LMU inbounded the ball, but a swarming ?Runner defense forced the Lions to call a timeout in the backcourt. When they inbounded the ball again, Alex Johnson (Toronto/Vaughan Road Academy) tied up Corey Counts and the arrow gave the ?Runners a chance for the win with 26 seconds left.
CSUB ran a play for Bragg. He knifed through the lane and drew contact as he attempted a layup, but he didn't get the call and the ball rolled off the rim.
Counts then made two free throws to account for the final margin.
CSUB will take a week off before hosting San Jose State Monday, Jan. 12, in Rabobank Arena.
Loyola Marymount 72, CSU Bakersfield 69
CSU BAKERSFIELD (4?12): Blakley 8-18 1-1 19; Emanuel 2-5 0-0 5; C. Brown 1-2 0-0 2; Johnson 0-7 1-2 1; Johns 5-9 4-6 16; Bragg 2-7 3-4 7; Carlson 1-1 0-0 3; Latunde 4-7 8-11 16; Lee 0-1 0-0 0. TOTALS: 23-57 17-24 69
LOYOLA MARYMOUNT (1?15): Armstead 5-8 2-2 12; Young 4-7 2-4 11; Deric 0-8 2-2 2; DuBois 11-15 12-15 39; Counts 1-8 3-4 6; Kanne 0-1 0-0 0; Sweezy 1-3 0-2 2; Reilly 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 22-50 21-29 72.
Halftime: CSUB 38-32. 3-point goals--CSUB 6-22 (Johns 2-5, Blakley 2-6, Carlson 1-1, Emanuel 1-4, Bragg 0-2, Johnson 0-4); LMU 7-18 (DuBois 5-7, Young 1-2, Counts 1-6, Kanne 0-1). Fouled out--Armstead, Sweezy. Rebounds--CSUB 34 (Latunde 10); LMU 35 (Young 8). Assists--CSUB 11 (Johnson 5); LMU 8 (Counts 3). Total fouls--CSUB 22, LMU 22. Technical fouls--Johns, Armstead. A-1,201.
