LAS VEGAS, Nev.—Bakersfield (13-18) held Chicago State (13-19) without a point for nearly five minutes down the stretch as the Roadrunners defeated the Cougars 68-62 in the quarterfinals of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament Thursday night.

The Cougars opened the game on a 12-5 run before the 'Runners responded with a 14-4 spurt. The teams played evenly throughout the opening frame, but the 'Runners were able to get inside and go to the free throw line. Bakersfield held a 19-3 advantage at the charity stripe in the opening 20 minutes and led 36-33 at halftime.

Chicago State got the 'Runners in foul trouble early in the second half, getting into the bonus at the 12:21 mark of the closing frame. The Cougars switched to a zone defense in the second half which left the Roadrunners without a point for nearly four minutes and Chicago State taking a 51-50 lead, with just under 10 to play on a Nate Duhon bucket.

Issiah Grayson (R-Sr., Atlanta, Ga., College of Southern Idaho) broke the drought with a three-pointer to tie the game at 53 with a little over eight to go. Chicago State led 54-53 with 7:03 to play when Grayson was fouled attempting a three-point field goal. The 5-11 point guard made all three to return the lead back to the 'Runners. Quinton Pippen converted a pair of free throws with 6:10 to play. The Cougars wouldn't score again until there was 1:52 to play when Corey Gray made a three-pointer.

Stefon Johnson (R-Sr., Cincinnati, Ohio, Garner-Webb) scored what proved to be the gamewinning basket, a layup at 5:23. CSUB pushed the lead to the largest of the game, seven, with 2:03 to play. Gray's three cut the 'Runner lead to four but Grayson's free throws made it a two-possession game. Gray again sank a three to for a one-possession game, 65-62 with 92 seconds to play.

The Roadrunners worked the clock which resulted in Erik Kinney (So. Sacramento, Calif., Sacramento HS) going to the free throw line after being fouled on a layup attempt. The 6-4 forward missed both free throw attempts. Both teams missed layups before Rahjan Muhammand missed a potential game-tying three-point attempt. The 'Runners got the ball and drained the clock down to 17 seconds when Grayson was fouled. Grayson connected on both to put the game away. The Cougars missed the next time down. Grayson was fouled again with 2/10's of second remaining and he made 1-of-2 for the final Roadrunner point of the night.

Grayson made 14-of-15 free throw attempts and led all scorers with 29 points. CSUB would get to the free throw line 20 more times than the Cougars (37-17) and made 78.4% of its attempts. Ahmed recorded a double-double of 15 points and 12 rebounds. Johnson scored 12 and had nine rebounds. The 'Runners outrebounded Chicago State 43-30.  

"Excited to get the win, but we have work to do tomorrow," said Bakersfield head coach Rod Barnes. "We came here not to just be here for one day. We are excited but not overwhelmed. We look forward to playing whoever our opponent is tomorrow.”

Bakersfield takes on either the No. 2 seed New Mexico State or the seventh seed Seattle U in the semifinals Friday night at 8:30 p.m.

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