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California State University at Bakersfield Athletics

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January 08 2021: CSU Bakersfield vs Cal Poly
David Dennis/All-Star Sports Photography
71
UC San Diego UCSD 4-6,0-0 Big West
76
Winner CSU Bakersfield CSUB 13-7,8-4 Big West
UC San Diego UCSD
4-6,0-0 Big West
71
Final
76
CSU Bakersfield CSUB
13-7,8-4 Big West
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
UC San Diego UCSD 25 46 71
CSU Bakersfield CSUB 39 37 76

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

`Runners Hold Off Tritons, Improve to 13-7

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – A big halftime lead nearly slipped away on Friday night, but the CSU Bakersfield men's basketball team never gave up the lead and held on for a 76-71 victory over fellow Big West Conference newcomer UC San Diego. With the win in the Icardo Center, CSUB has now posted eight victories in its last eleven games.

"It was a tale of two halves," said Rod Barnes, Head Coach of the `Runners. "In the first half, I thought our guys were pretty locked into what we needed to do defensively…I just thought the second half we weren't very good. We didn't play with a whole lot of urgency. We played with great energy the last two and a half minutes, when we locked in and really tried to guard and I thought that's why we ended up winning the game."

Barnes added some brief thoughts on the career night put together by guard Shaun Williams: "I thought Shaun Williams obviously had his best game since he's been here. He's had a great week of practice." A 2019 mid-year transfer to the `Runners, Williams went off for a career-high 24 points while only missing one shot all evening (9-of-10 FG, 5-of-6 3FG). The native of St. Louis added five rebounds, four assists, and two steals in 25 minutes off the bench.

Helping Williams guide CSUB to victory Friday night was redshirt senior Taze Moore, who tallied 18 points, five rebounds, and five assists against UCSD. Bakersfield native and senior forward Justin McCall chipped in 14 points, eight rebounds, and a pair of assists in the Icardo Center.

As a team, CSUB shot 51 percent from the floor on the game, but UCSD's three-point shooting (12-of-32) helped the visiting Tritons hang around. The `Runners outrebounded their opponents 36-26 and outscored them 40-24 in the paint.

First Half

CSUB jumped out to a 12-point lead at 19-7 just under seven minutes into the game. UCSD hit a few three-pointers down the stretch to keep the score close, but Bakersfield's Grehlon Easter and Williams answered with a pair of treys of their own to push the lead back out to double digits.

The `Runners closed the half on an 11-4 run to take a 39-25 advantage into the locker room. Bakersfield shot 50 percent from the floor compared to UCSD's 39 percent. The `Runners pounded the paint to a 22-10 scoring advantage while outrebounding the Tritons 21-13.

McCall posted a game-high 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting to that point while adding four rebounds in the first period. Off the bench, Williams went 3-for-3 from behind the arc, finishing the half with nine points, three rebounds, and three assists. Moore chipped in six points and four rebounds while Czar Perry tallied a pair of points, rebounds, assists, and steals.

Second Half

UCSD's offense lit on fire in the second half as the Tritons gradually chipped away at Bakersfield's advantage. After converting an and-1, UCSD pulled with four points of the `Runners, 48-44, just over eight minutes into the second period. Four minutes later, a Triton three-pointer gave the visitors a three-point deficit, 57-54.

With every basket the `Runners made down the stretch, the Tritons seemed to have an answer as they would not go down quietly. UCSD outscored CSUB 46-37 in the second half, but Bakersfield managed to hold on for a 76-71 win thanks to some clutch buckets from Moore down the stretch.

Tomorrow

The `Runners (13-7, 8-4 BWC) and Tritons (4-6) will return to the Icardo Center Saturday afternoon to close out the weekend series with one final game. Tipoff on the Valley Strong Court is scheduled for 4 p.m. (PT) and the game can be watched live on ESPN3 once again.

~GoRunners.com~
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