BAKERSFIELD, Calif.- Zachary Lamb scored a game-high 23 points as the CSUB Roadrunners (14-14) led nearly wire-to-wire in a 72-63 win over San Diego (11-16) Saturday night at Rabobank Arena.
Lamb was 7 of 13 from the field including 8 of 9 from the free-throw line and a four-point play in the first half after he was fouled burying a three-pointer from the corner by….
CSUB shot 13 of 26 in the first half and 5 of 10 from beyond the arc as they built a 34-25 lead at the half. The Roadrunners extended the lead to 17 with 17:12 remaining in the second half before the Toreros would outscore CSUB 18-8 over the next six minutes to pull within seven points. The 'Runners however managed a 11-3 run to extend their lead to 15 points with just over five minutes remaining following another Lamb jumper.
The Roadrunners would hold off one more charge by the Toreros but managed to make free throws down the stretch to improve to .500 once again with the win. Donald Johnson (Sr., Lancaster, Calif., Eastern Arizona CC) added 14 points in his final game at Rabobank Arena while pulling down 8 rebounds while Issiah Grayson (Jr., Atlanta, Ga., Southern Idaho CC) chipped in 14 points and 8 assists in a game that also saw 8 CSUB steals and 6 blocks.
“I've told our guys the way you win is defense, your offense will come and go and we had a good defensive effort tonight,” said CSUB head coach Rod Barnes. “We overcame a slow start but took good shots and played with a little more intensity and hunger than they did.”
The Roadrunners had a 32-22 edge in rebounding as Rashad Savage (Sr., Philadelphia, Penn. Odessa CC) grabbed six of CSUB's 11 offensive rebounds, which led to 12-second chance points. The 'Runners offense also came up big tonight shooting 54% from the field and 42% from three-point range, their highest total from the outside in six games.
San Diego was led by Ken Rancifer's 13 points on 6 of 10 shooting. The 'Runners held leading scorer Johnny Dee to just five points on 2 of 8 from the field. Dee came in averaging over 14 points per game for the Toreros who managed 46% from the field and a mere 26% from the outside in the loss.
CSUB returns to the road on Wednesday traveling to Newark N.J. to take on New Jersey Tech. Tip off is schedule for 7 p.m. (EST).
