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California State University at Bakersfield Athletics

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TazeMooreWAC01
Western Athletic Conference
70
CSU Bakersfield CSUB 16-15
85
Winner UTRGV UTRGV 19-15
CSU Bakersfield CSUB
16-15
70
Final
85
UTRGV UTRGV
19-15
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
CSU Bakersfield CSUB 28 42 70
UTRGV UTRGV 43 42 85

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

CSUB's Second-Half Surge Falls Short at WAC Tournament



LAS VEGAS, Nev. – A slow start led to a big deficit for CSU Bakersfield's men's basketball team in Thursday's Western Athletic Conference Tournament quarterfinal. Despite a big, second-half surge from the Roadrunners, UTRGV held off Bakersfield's advances and eliminated the `Runners from the tournament, 85-70.

"I'm always thankful for the opportunity to be the Head Coach of this program," said Rod Barnes after Thursday's loss. "I don't take that lightly nor for granted. We faced adversity this year, but we continued to fight. Tonight's game was reflective of our season. I thought we started really slowly, but we fought back. Unfortunately, we didn't end very well."

Barnes went on to address his disappointment with the loss and his optimism for the future: "This loss is going to sting. We've got work to do. We want to play on Saturday night. We're not here to participate; we're here to win…We will go back to work, but we won't put her heads down. We'll learn from this and fix the problems that we have, but as a coach, I won't feel right until we're back here next year and we win…I like the future of our program, with the young players that we have. I thought we had times this year that we really made strides."

Joiner, a sophomore guard who was named First Team All-Conference after leading the league in scoring during WAC play, shares Barnes' positive outlook for Bakersfield's prospects: "This loss hurt, but we know what kind of team we have for the future. We're not going to dwell on it, but we'll learn from it… Our team is a very close-knit team and we hate to see our seniors lose like this. Those are our big brothers. We love them and we're a family."

A native of Oxford, Miss., Joiner finished the game with a team-high 16 points in the Orleans Arena on Thursday. A fellow sophomore and Mississippi native (Southaven High School), Taze Moore put together an all-around game with 13 points, a career-high nine rebounds, three blocks, and four steals for the `Runners.

When asked about the effort he gave on the floor, Moore looked to Barnes' expectation of the whole team: "All Coach recruits is dogs, real players. If you want to be here and you want to play for him, you're going to play. [James Suber] is our captain and he sets that example for us and we follow him into battle."

The `Runners started the game flat, committing three turnovers and allowing UTRGV to score easy points on its way to a 14-2 lead in the first three and a half minutes. Joiner and senior Rickey Holden slowed the run with a pair of three-pointers, pulling CSUB within 11 points at 17-8.

UTRGV used a 20-6 run to extend its lead over the `Runners to 37-15. Bakersfield started to find a bit of an offensive rhythm in the closing minutes of the period and began to chip away at the deficit, heading to halftime down 43-28. The CSUB guards penetrated the paint multiple times down the stretch, beating the Vaqueros to the rack.

Holden finished the opening period with a team-high 10 points while Joiner chipped in nine. Sophomore Justin McCall added six points with three buckets in the paint while Moore had two points, eight rebounds, one assists, two blocks, and three steals. As a team, CSUB shot just 36% from the field compared to UTRGV's 53% while the `Runners committed seven more turnovers than their opponents.

CSUB got out to a hot start in the second half, using a 7-2 run to reduce UTRGV's advantage to 12 points in the first two and a half minutes of play. Suber, a redshirt senior forward, gave the `Runners a big push with back-to-back-to-back buckets in the paint before Moore converted an and-1 to bring Bakersfield's deficit to single digits, 50-59, with 12 minutes to play.

Three minutes later, with momentum still in Bakersfield's favor, Suber knocked down a pair of free throws to pull CSUB with seven points at 55-62. Back-to-back and-1 conversions pushed UTRGV back out to a double-digit advantage with just under eight minutes remaining. Bakersfield's surge was stalled by a revitalized effort from the Vaqueros. UTRGV used a 12-0 run to extend its lead back out to 74-55 with 6:02 left on the clock. Every attempt to rally by the `Runners was thwarted by their opponent and CSUB fell by a final score of 85-70.

Holden made 5-of-8 field goals to post 12 points in the quarterfinal in Las Vegas. Suber, who came into the contest in the nation's Top 10 in offensive rebounds, pulled down four more on Thursday to finish with 13 points and five boards. McCall played 25 minutes off the bench and had eight points and eight rebounds for the `Runners.

Bakersfield won the battle of the boards, as it has done in the vast majority of its games this season, but the Vaqueros converted 56% of their shots compared to 39% for the `Runners. CSUB pulled down 20 offensive rebounds to UTRGV's four with a total rebound margin of 40 to 24 in Bakersfield's favor.

In his closing thoughts, Barnes praised the careers of CSUB's two senior floor generals, Holden and Suber: "Both of those guys have represented the university, themselves, our program, and their families well. We want to win in every area of our lives and those guys have done a great job in representing us. I'm proud of them and excited for them because they are better young men after being here with our program."

With the loss, CSUB's time at the WAC Tournament has concluded, but the `Runners (16-15) will await a potential invitation to continue postseason play. The 2018-19 season marks Bakersfield's fourth winning season under Barnes' leadership and the third-such in the last four years. A trip to a postseason tournament this year would be the fourth for the `Runners in the Barnes era after participating in the 2012 CIT, the 2016 NCAA Tournament, and the 2017 NIT.

~GoRunners.com~
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