EDINBURG, Texas- The CSUB Roadrunners trailed only briefly Thursday night at Texas-Pan American before rattling off a 15-0 run in the first half establishing their lead for good in a balanced and defensive-led 66-54 win over the Broncs at UTPA Fieldhouse.

The 'Runners (10-15, 5-4 WAC) strong efforts on defense limited UTPA to a mere 15-of-40 shooting night from the field while CSUB dominated the glass, outrebounding the Broncs 37-22, including 12 offensive rebounds that led to 21 second-chance points for Bakersfield who won for the fifth time in their last six games.

“That was a great team victory, I was so impressed and happy with the way our guys defended,” said CSUB head coach Rod Barnes. “We came into the game wanting to get back into what our identity is and that's to guard people.”

“Our offense was good enough, we got to the line enough but I thought our defense was special tonight in the way we guarded them.”

UT Pan American led with just under two minutes expired in the contest, but that was the last lead the Broncs would hold as CSUB responded with a Jaylin Airington (R-So., East Chicago, Ind., Ventura CC) three-pointer which sparked a 15-0 run over the next five minutes building a lead that would prove to be too much for UTPA to overcome.

The 'Runners led 31-21 at halftime and despite a brief scoreless spell early in the second half, CSUB established their post presence with Kevin Mays (Jr., Queens, N.Y., Odessa CC) recording his eight double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds. The Roadrunners relied heavily on their low-block shots, outscoring UTPA 34-6 in the paint.

The Broncs managed to cut the lead to just six points with just over 13 minutes to play, CSUB however again responded with a 7-0 run thanks to layups from Brent Wrapp (R-Fr., Boulder, Colo., Fairview HS), Airington and a layup and free throw from Aly Ahmed (Jr., Alexandria, Egypt, Midland CC). CSUB's lead would grow to as many as 17 in the second half.

Wrapp scored a career-high 13 points on 3-of-6 from the field while also dishing out seven assists and grabbing five rebounds. Ahmed also scored 13 points on 6-of-9 from the field while also pulling down seven rebounds. Airington added 10 points and six rebounds for CSUB who were 21-of-47 from the field, good for 45% from the field and 21-of-26 from the free throw line in the win.

UTPA was led by Janari Joesaar, the WAC's leading scorer managed his 18 ppg average but was held to taking tough shots all night and was 3-of-7 from the field. He was 12-of-16 from the free-throw line. Shaquille Boga added 15 for UTPA on 6-of-14 from the field. 22 of the Broncs' 54 points came from the free-throw line where they were 22-of-29.

“A lot of their points came from the free-throw line which is ok when you defend as hard as we defended,” Barnes said. “We got the game into the kind of game we wanted, early on we got a lead and that's what you want to do on the road; then we finished tonight.”

The Roadrunners improve to 5-4 in WAC play good for third-place amongst tournament-eligible teams. CSUB will travel to first-place New Mexico State for a game Saturday night against the Aggies who improved to 8-1 in WAC play with a 73-47 win over Seattle Thursday night. NM State beat CSUB 70-54 on January 15 in Bakersfield.

“We have our work cut out,” Barnes said. “This is the time you want, right now, going to their place. This is the second game so you get a chance to change some things up and see if we're better prepared for them this time around than we were last time.”

Tipoff on Saturday is scheduled for 7 P.M. (MT). The game will be available on Newstalk 1180 and 96.1 FM KERN, it will also be televised on the WAC Digital Network, ESPN3.com and will be available on ESPN Full Court through Direct TV.