BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – The Roadrunner men's basketball team wrapped up its preseason competitions with a home exhibition Saturday evening. The Biola Eagles hung around with CSU Bakersfield until midway through the second half when a 10-0 surge propelled the `Runners to an 84-64 win in the Icardo Center.
The opening half was mostly CSUB, but Biola sank 16-of-17 free throws as a team to keep make the `Runners a bit uncomfortable. At the break, CSUB held a 44-33 lead with redshirt junior Damiyne Durham pacing all `Runners with 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from behind the arc.
In the second half, the Eagles went on a 5-0 run to make the score 54-44 with 13:25 remaining in the game. That would be as close as Biola would get as the `Runners turned on the heat with a 10-0 run over the next two and a half minutes. Bakersfield went on to increase its lead to as many as 25 points and finished off the contest with a 20-point victory.
The `Runners shot 50.0% (16-of-32) from the field in the second half to pull away from the Eagles. Unselfish offense led to 16 assists as a team including a game-high five assists from transfer Rickey Holden. The junior guard also added multiple steals while going 6-for-10 from the field with 15 points.
Durham wound up with a game-high 18 points on six three-pointers. Freshman Jarkel Joiner chipped in for 13 points and four rebounds while fellow freshman Justin McCall added 10 points including two from the high-flying dunk pictured above.
The `Runners have completed their preseason exhibitions and will prepare for their regular-season opener. Come out to the Icardo Center on Friday, Nov. 10, at 7 p.m. to see CSUB take on Whittier to officially kick off the 2017-18 season.
~GoRunners.com~
