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California State University at Bakersfield Athletics

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ShawnStithNE07
Nick Ellis
59
UTRGV UTRGV 12-16,7-7 WAC
79
Winner CSU Bakersfield CSUB 12-17,6-8 WAC
UTRGV UTRGV
12-16,7-7 WAC
59
Final
79
CSU Bakersfield CSUB
12-17,6-8 WAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
UTRGV UTRGV 22 37 59
CSU Bakersfield CSUB 44 35 79

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

CSUB Dominates UTRGV in Icardo Center, 79-59

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – Never trailing in Thursday night's Western Athletic Conference home game, the CSU Bakersfield men's basketball team put together an impressive 40 minutes against the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Four Roadrunners scored in double digits against the Vaqueros including a game-high 21 points from junior forward Shawn Stith on the way to a 79-59 victory in the Icardo Center.

"I thought our players played as hard, for 40 minutes, as we have in a while," said Rod Barnes, Bakersfield Head Coach. "I still thought there were some areas we can improve on, but I was impressed by our effort and desire to win the game…We have been asking someone to step up and try to lead us. I thought Taze Moore and Shawn Stith did a really good job tonight."

When asked about his team shooting better than 50 percent in both halves, Barnes credited focus on the offensive end in practice: "We've really been harping on that…We spent a lot of time on offense because we felt like we have tried to work on defense and fix some things, but we felt like maybe this team needs to be more of an offensive team. But I thought we made some defensive plays that gave us an opportunity to get into the open court. When we do that, we're pretty good."

Stith, who hails from East Oakland, Calif., poured in 13 second-half points on his way to 21 points, his highest scoring output since tallying 26 points back in November. The Saddleback College transfer did not miss a shot all night long, going 6-for-6 from the field while knocking down all nine of his free throws.

Moore, a junior guard from Southaven, Miss., scored 17 points in the first half including four electrifying dunks. He finished the night with 18 points and did a little bit of everything while chipping in four rebounds, three assists, and a block against the Vaqueros. Fellow juniors De'Monte Buckingham (15) and Czar Perry (12) also helped the `Runners on the offensive end Thursday night.

Following Bakersfield's dominant victory, the `Runners have just one home game remaining as members of the WAC before moving to the Big West Conference. On Saturday, Feb. 29, CSUB will host NM State (23-6, 14-0 WAC), the WAC regular season Champion. Barnes said his team is excited to play one last game against the Aggies in the Icardo Center: "I think we'll go into Saturday's game looking forward to the challenge…I think we'll have more confidence than we did on the road. Hopefully we'll have a great crowd that can help us throughout the game so we don't have any lulls…If we can win the game, it sends a statement that we're one of the teams that people need to be concerned about once we get to Vegas."

Tickets for Saturday's historic game are already going fast and a large crowd is expected to cheer on the `Runners in the Icardo Center. Fans are encouraged to purchase tickets ahead of time at GoRunners.com/tickets to avoid long lines at the box office on game day.

Thursday's game started out slowly with the two teams combing to make just 1-of-13 shots in the opening four minutes. The lull would not last long for the `Runners as defense turned into offense and CSUB found itself leading by double digits less than eight minutes into the game.

Buckingham nailed a three-pointer a couple minutes later to give the `Runners a 21-5 advantage, but UTRGV gave a push down the stretch, pulling within 12 points with 2:01 left on the clock. Bakersfield answered back with a 10-0 run to close out the first half while doubling its visitor's scoring effort, 44-22.

As it did in the first half, CSUB needed some time to get the offense rolling in the second period. UTRGV capitalized on the slow start, pulling within 13 points at 50-37. The `Runners never let the Vaqueros get any closer, ballooning their lead to as many as 23 points as Stith pounded the paint. The forward's offensive output helped Bakersfield outscore UTRGV in the paint, 38-12, on the way to the 79-59 victory.

The `Runners also capitalized on Vaquero miscues, tallying 22 points on turnovers compared to just one point for UTRGV. Bakersfield shot 52 percent from the field and 40 percent from three-point range on Thursday while limiting its visitor to just 36 percent shooting and 25 percent from behind the arc.

With the win, CSUB (12-17) improved to 6-8 in WAC play and remains tightly packed with six teams battling for seeding at the WAC Tournament in two weeks. With two games remaining in the regular season, the `Runners are still jockeying for position and could earn as high as a two-seed in Las Vegas. The league is as competitive as ever, so seeding might not matter nearly as much as momentum heading into what promises to be a mad March.
 
~GoRunners.com~
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