BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - Jaylin Airington (R-So., East Chicago, Ind., Ventura CC) scored a career-high 19 points as the Roadrunners built a 20-point first-half lead before holding off a surging Utah Valley squad in a 72-69 win Thursday night at the Icardo Center.

The victory was the fourth-straight for CSUB (9-14, 4-3 WAC), which is their longest winning streak of the season. It was also the third-straight WAC win for Bakersfield who moves into a third-place tie with Grand Canyon in the standings. The Antelopes (13-11, 4-3 WAC) come to Bakersfield on Saturday night.

“Our guys at the end of the game, I thought we made some big shots,” said CSUB head coach Rod Barnes. “I just thought we were really good offensively tonight; I thought the first 13 minutes we were as good as I have been anticipating and believing we could be.”

“Then, after that 13-minute stretch we just hung on the rest of the way and you don't want to just be a team that's holding on.”

The Roadrunners rolled of a 19-0 first half run to break the game open from the 14:14 mark to the 5:53 mark. Bakersfield was 4-of-5 during that stretch while Utah Valley was 0-of-7 from the field. The Wolverines scored one-free three in response before CSUB built a 20-point lead following a pair of Javonte Maynor (R-Sr., Atlanta, Ga., Georgia State) free throws after a technical foul was issued to UVU head coach Dick Hunsaker.

That technical however seemed to inspire the Wolverines who then went on a 10-0 run over the final 3:43 of the half, the Roadrunners then struggled from the field going 0-for-4 during the run. Utah Valley capped it off with a buzzer-beating half-court shot from Zach Nelson to pull them within nine at the half.

The Roadrunners never trailed in the second half but Utah Valley continually chipped away at the CSUB lead. The 'Runners however, plagued with inconsistencies this season in the final minutes of games, managed several key jump shots when they needed to score. Airington, Maynor, Brent Wrapp (R-Fr., Boulder, Colo., Fairview HS), Aly Ahmed (Jr., Alexandria, Egypt, Midland CC) and Kevin Mays (Jr., Queens, N.Y., Odessa CC) all managed clutch baskets in the final three minutes.

Utah Valley however hammered the offensive glass in the second half, pulling down a total of 14 offensive boards in the game, which led to 29 field goals while Bakersfield shot just 15 in the second-half. The Roadrunners however minimized the damage by shooting 67% in the second half and 14-of-21 from the free-throw line.

“To give up 14 offensive rebounds, that's just not our team,” Barnes said. “But hey we did what we needed to do, we wanted to protect our home floor and make one more step toward getting improving our league record so I'm proud of our guys for the way we went at it.”

Those seven missed free-throws for CSUB opened the door for the Wolverines who again made it interesting in the final 17 seconds. Following a one-of-two made free throws from Ahmed and an eight-point CSUB lead, Zach Nelson a three-pointer before the Wolverine stole the ball on the next in bound. That left Nelson open for a second-three to cut the lead to five with two seconds to play.

Airington was fouled on the next inbound pass; he made one of two free-throws before Utah Valley's final long pass down the floor was intercepted by Ahmed to win the game.

Along with Airington's 19 points, CSUB put together an impressive offensive night as Ahmed added 17 points on 5-of-7 from the field and 7-of-10 from the free-throw line. Mays added 15 points on 7-of-10 from the field while Wrapped scored a career-high 10 points on 3-of-4 from the field. CSUB shot 24-of-41 from the field, good for 59%. The 'Runners were also 6-of-12 from three-point range.

The Roadrunners improved to above .500 for the first time in their second season of Western Athletic Conference play.

CSUB hosts Grand Canyon Saturday night at the Icardo Center as the Roadrunners' four-game home stand comes to a close. The Antelopes edged Seattle Thursday night 66-64 in Seattle. CSUB, playing without Aly Ahmed back in January fell at Grand Canyon 73-65.

Saturday's game will be televised by the American Sports Network and will be broadcast live to 40 States and over 100 stations. This marks the first time the Icardo Center has hosted a nationally-televised game. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 P.M.

“I make a plea to our fans to please come out and support us, this is a huge turn in our program from a standpoint of we get the chance to be on national TV,” Barnes said. “It's an opportunity for kids that we're recruiting to watch us play, it's a chance for us to showcase the Icardo Center, we need everybody to come out.”

Tickets for Saturday's game are available online at www.Vallitix.com or by calling the CSUB ticket office at 654-BLUE.