KANSAS CITY, MO. - The Bakersfield Roadrunners built a 13 point lead with less than two minutes remaining Thursday night which turned out to be just enough as they survived an 11-3 run to end the game and a comeback scare from Kansas City in a 74-69 win at the Municipal Auditorium.

Despite the late comeback attempt, the Roadrunners again played one of their best games of the season, using balanced scoring, 23 points from Issiah Grayson (R-Sr., Atlanta, Ga., Southern Idaho CC) and a career-high 19 points from Aly Ahmed (So., Alexandria, Egypt, Midlands CC) to shoot over 50% from the field en route to their third-straight win in Western Athletic Conference play.

The three-game winning streak is the longest for CSUB since their five-game winning streak dating back to Nov. 11 through Nov. 30.

The Roadrunners never trailed in the game and led wire-to-wire including a five-point lead at the half. Bakersfield would build their first double-digit lead just five minutes into the second half. CSUB would lead by at least 10 for much of the second half and built a 13-point lead with 1:38 to play.

That's when UMKC made one last run, holding CSUB without a field goal over that stretch while also hitting four shots, making three free throws and forcing three turnovers from the Roadrunners. Ahmed would give CSUB a five-point lead with a free-throw with seven seconds left then steal the ball in the Kansas City front court to close the win out for Bakersfield.

“It's always good to win on the road and the guys are playing very well right now,” said head coach Rod Barnes. “We missed a few free throws late and our guys were not aggressive and stopped getting it inside but you have to give the guys credit, we'll take the win and you have to feel good about it and now we'll move on to the next one.”

Bakersfield was 10-18 from the field in the second half, marking the third-straight game the 'Runners have shot over 55% in the second half. They were 21-41 good for over 51% in the game while holding the Kangaroos to just 36.5% from the field (23-63) and just 19% from three-point range (5-26).

“I think we can play much better than we played tonight but whenever you get a win it's an important step because winning breeds winning,” Barnes said. “We're in a good place right now but we've got to get ready to go to Chicago State and try to get a win there too.”

Bakersfield will be at Chicago State on Saturday afternoon with tipoff scheduled for 2 P.M. (CST). Chicago State fell to Utah Valley Thursday night 79-70.

With Thursday's win the 'Runners move into fifth-place in the WAC with a chance to move up one more spot with a win on Saturday. Coverage of that game begins at 11:30 A.M. (PST) on KERN Newstalk 1180.