BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – For the third straight game the outcome of Saturday night's contest against Fresno State came down to the final seconds and once again the result didn't favor the CSUB Roadrunners (1-7) in a 63-61 loss to Fresno State (3-6) at the Icardo Center.

The game came down to a 61-61 tie with under 20 seconds remaining. The Roadrunners in bounded the ball to Dashawn Richmond (Jr., Staten Island, N.Y.) on the wing, Richmond then fell down when he started to dribble, on one knee and surrounded by defenders Richmond was assessed a technical foul for calling a timeout the Roadrunners did not have.

Marvell Harris who led all Fresno State scorers with 27 points would make the ensuing two free throws with 17 seconds left as the Roadrunners final two shots would miss as Fresno State send CSUB to their fourth loss this season by less-than two points.

“I thought our guys followed the game plan, I thought we had some really good things happen for us, didn't think we closed out as well as we can,” said CSUB head coach Rod Barnes. “We had a turnover, then a bad pass and then a timeout called after we said we didn't have any timeouts.”

The 'Runners led for the majority of the game that included eight ties and eight lead changes, Fresno State led at the half 25-24 after CSUB led for nearly the entire frame. The Bulldogs capped the half on a 7-0 run to take the one-point lead into the locker room. CSUB held Fresno State to just 8-of-25 shooting in the first half 32% but allowed the run while going 0-for-4 from the field in the final 4:09.

In the second half the Roadrunners offense never experienced a drought, but a few costly mistakes once again late in the game allowed Fresno State the chance to come back. Bakersfield led by four with 2:43 remaining but back-to-back turnovers allowed the Bulldogs to score twice from the free-throw line and once from the field to tie the game at 59-59.

The 'Runners responded with an Aly Ahmed (Jr., Alexandria, Egypt, Midland CC) jumper in the post to take a 61-59 lead with 1:03 left. Fresno State then tied the game when they fed Terrell Carter in the post. Carter had struggled defensively for Fresno State all night but converted the late jumper to tie the game before the CSUB technical foul opened the door for the win.

“We just had some turnovers again that were untimely from some of our guys but I thought we played better, I thought we executed better, I thought we did some things better,” Barnes said.

The Roadrunners shot 48% in the second half (11 of 28) but Fresno State, sparked by Harris's outburst converted 9-of-17 for 53% and were 18-of-21 from the free throw line in a half that featured 38 total free throws. CSUB was 12-of-17 in the half from free-throw line and 17-of-28 in the game.

CSUB has now lost five games this season by five or fewer points.  Richmond led the Roadrunners with a career-high 20 points on 7-of-10 from the field and 3-of-5 from three-point range. Ahmed added 15 points for the Roadrunners on 5-of-10 shooting while Kevin Mays (Jr., Queens, N.Y., Odessa CC) added eight points and nine rebounds, narrowly missing his fifth double-double of the season.

Bakersfield returns to action next Saturday afternoon at Portland State. Tipoff is scheduled for 1:05 P.M. The game can be heard on Newstalk 1180 KERN. CSUB returns to action at the Icardo Center on New Year's Eve hosting La Verne in a special 2 P.M. tipoff. Tickets for that game are available at Vallitix.com.