LOS ANGELES – A strong first-half effort helped CSU Bakersfield's men's basketball team put pressure on host UCLA in the Pauley Pavilion. The Bruins held a slim lead at halftime, but opened up a 16-point lead in the second half. The Roadrunners fought back and made UCLA sweat despite falling by a final score of 75-66 on Wednesday night.
"I'm happy about the heart our kids played with," said Rod Barnes, Head Coach of the `Runners. "You always want to come out with a win, but I thought they gave a valiant effort and made our program proud. They got down but they did not give up. We just didn't make some plays we needed to make to put a bit more pressure on them."
CSUB jumped out to an early, 8-4 lead with freshman Jarkel Joiner scoring all eight points for the `Runners. The next four minutes featured strong defense from both sides as the `Runners wound up with an 11-7 lead with 12 minutes to go in the first period. CSUB went on to extended its lead to 16-7 behind sharp shooting from Joiner and Damiyne Durham, but the Bruins went on a 7-0 run to close the gap.
Through the first 13 minutes of the first half, only Joiner (10) and Durham (9) had scored for the `Runners. Unselfish passing by their teammates and icy nerves helped CSUB's shooting guards knock down their shots and give the `Runners their first-half lead.
UCLA's senior center Thomas Welsh tied the score up at 23-23 on a three-pointer with 4:23 remaining in the half. The Bruins took their first lead at 25-24 on a pair of free throws, but junior Rickey Holden answered with a trey to put the `Runners ahead again, 27-25. A back-door layup by UCLA's leading scorer, Aaron Holiday, gave the Bruins a 29-27 halftime lead.
The Bruins used an early, 11-2 run in the second half to take a 41-30 advantage with just over five minutes gone in the second. UCLA extended its lead to as many as 13 points, but a pair of Shon Briggs free throws with 13 minutes left made the score 45-34.
Holden started to heat up to give the `Runners some momentum, knocking a down three-pointer, but UCLA's half-court offense continued to run like a well-oiled machine. The Bruins converted on 10 of their first 13 field goals in the second period.
With just over 11 minutes to go, the `Runners hit the accelerator and applied a full-court press, which gave UCLA some trouble. The Bruins were able to maintain their lead at 56-42, but the pace wore on UCLA's players, who started to make mistakes. The `Runners used a 9-2 run to bring the UCLA lead down to single digits at 58-49 with 5:08 left in the game.
CSUB continued to surge and pulled within just seven points, 68-61, with 1:15 left in the game. That would be the closest the `Runners would get, but a strong effort resulted in a 75-66 loss to a Top 25 ranked team in Pauley Pavilion.
After knocking down over 50% over their shots from behind the arc in the first period, the `Runners struggled in the second half, sinking just 4-of-22 three-pointers (.182). Joiner led all players with 20 points on 6-of-13 shooting while Durham was close behind, chipping in 15 points for Bakersfield.
The `Runners (4-4) will return home for the first time since Nov. 10 for a home game on Saturday, Dec. 2. Come to the Icardo Center for a 7 p.m. tipoff against Northern Arizona.
~GoRunners.com~
