Box Score BAKERSFIELD, Calif.- In a record-setting offensive effort the CSUB Roadrunners had five players in double figures and shot over 48 percent from the field while winning their fourth straight Saturday night 91-69 over Utah Valley.
The 91 points were the most ever scored by CSUB (18-7, 8-2 WAC) in a single Western Athletic Conference game since joining the WAC in 2013. It was the second-highest total scored this season behind the 93 scored in the season opener against San Diego Christian.
Bakersfield trailed briefly in the first half as Utah Valley (10-15, 4-6 WAC) started pressing the pace early but the Roadrunners responded with a defensive effort that put the game away by halftime and held the second-highest scoring offense in the WAC to just 69 points while holding them to just 5-of-26 from three-point range (19%); the Wolverines entered with the third-highest three-point shooting percentage in the conference at 36 percent.
“I thought our guys were really focused on defense, there's only been two or three games where I've felt we've played with that kind of energy for a long period of time,” said head coach Rod Barnes. “I was really pleased, I thought we could have done a few things better on the offensive end but defensively it really set the tone for us.”
Following the early five-point deficit the Roadrunners went on their first of two runs in the half outscoring the Wolverines 8-0 to take a 20-17 lead. CSUB would never trail again in the contest and closed the first half on an 11-3 run to lead 41-27 at the break.
The second half would yield a mid-range shooting offense led by Kevin Mays who scored a team-high 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting and 5-of-5 from the free-throw line. He was joined by Aly Ahmed who scored 10 of his 15 points in the second half including a jumper with 18:06 remaining which put him over 1,000 career-points at CSUB. He becomes just the 12th Roadrunner to score 1000 in a career and just 6th all-time to score 1,000 points and grab 500 rebounds.
“It's a great thing to see and it's a great accomplishment for him and also for our team because there's a lot of guys passing that ball to him for it to happen,” Barnes said. “That's the reason we are in the situation we are now because we've got really-good inside play.”
Bakersfield's defense forced 13 turnovers from Utah Valley which led to 19 points while the 'Runners high-percentage shots in the paint and near the basket let to a 48-percent shooting night from the field and a 52-32 advantage of points in the paint over the Wolverines. Justin Pride added 16 points for the Roadrunners as he set a new single-game record with 22 free-throw attempts. Pride converted eight from the charity stripe and was 4-of-6 from the field with six assists. Many of the free-throw attempts came at the end of the contest as Utah Valley began intentionally fouling with 5:24 remaining while trailing by 24 points. A total of 56 fouls were whistled in the game as CSUB was 31-of-49 from the line while the Wolverines were 16-of-23.
The 'Runners also had just one turnover in the second half while dishing out seven assists. The turnover occurred on the final possession for CSUB who elected to let the shot clock expire leading by 21. The 'Runners recorded a total of 17 assists in the game to just nine turnovers. Utah Valley managed just three points off CSUB's turnovers. UVU was led by Jaden Jackson who scored 20 points on 7-of-11 from the field and 6-of-7 from the free-throw line. UVU was just 24-of-66 from the field (36%).
The win keeps the Roadrunners tied for second place in the Western Athletic Conference with Grand Canyon at 8-2. The 'Runners trail first-place NM State by a game, they will see the Aggies Thursday in Las Cruces. CSUB's win coupled with losses by Utah Valley and Seattle give the 'Runners a two-game lead on the number-two seed for the WAC Tournament over Seattle and a four-game lead on fourth-place UVU.
Thursday's game can be heard live on Newstalk 1180 and 96.1 FM KERN beginning at 6 P.M. Pacific.
