David Dennis/All-Star Sports Photography

Box Score

CSUN CSUN 9-10,5-7 Big West

CSU Bakersfield CSUB 15-10,9-7 Big West

CSUN CSUN

9-10,5-7 Big West

Final

Feb. 27, 2021

CSU Bakersfield CSUB

15-10,9-7 Big West

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	F
CSUN CSUN	43	47	90
CSU Bakersfield CSUB	49	38	87

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | February 27, 2021

`Runners Fall in Shootout to Close Regular Season

Next Game:

vs. No. 4 UC Davis

3/11/2021 | 2:00 P.M.

1230AM/101.1FM ESPN

Next Game

Full Schedule

Mar. 11 (Thu) / 2:00 P.M.

vs. No. 4 UC Davis

History

Recap
Roster

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – CSU Bakersfield's regular season finale against CSUN featured a high-scoring shootout in the Icardo Center Saturday night. Despite a career-high 28 points from redshirt senior Taze Moore and five Roadrunners scoring in double digits, CSUB suffered a 90-87 loss to the Matadors.

"Tonight, we tried to play catch up and score with them," said Rod Barnes, Bakersfield's tenth-year Head Coach, who built his program around defensive intensity. "That's their game. I can't say enough about their guard [TJ] Starks; he's really really good…I thought we fought and gave ourselves a chance. We were just not good enough defensively to win and that's disappointing."

With his team heading into a bye week, Barnes is looking forward to preparing for the Big West Basketball Championship in Las Vegas: "I feel confident in this team because there is so much that they have done and so many sacrifices they have had for this season…We need this time [to prepare]. Hopefully we can shore up some things on the defensive end and hopefully we can give our guys some time to rest and be ready to go."

Moore, who hails from Southaven, Miss., tallied 28 points on 9-of-12 shooting while going 8-for-9 from the free throw line. CSUN countered that with a pair of 20+-point scorers of its own in guard TJ Starks (25) and forward Alex Merkviladze (24).

Bakersfield received double-digit scoring from five different `Runners for the second-straight game. Coming in behind Moore was fellow senior Justin Edler-Davis, who tallied 18 points and five rebounds. Guard Shaun Williams chipped in 17 points and four assists against the Matadors while Ronne Readus (12) and Grehlon Easter (10) also contributed to the offensive outburst.

First Half

The teams shot lights out as CSUB and CSUN both posted field goal percentages above 60 in the opening period. Bakersfield led for most of the half, but never by more than six points. Edler-Davis knocked down a three-pointer to give Bakersfield a 42-40 advantage with just under two minutes left in the period and a late surge put CSUB up 49-43 at the break.

Moore had 15 points through the first period while Williams went to the locker room with 13 points. Their offensive efforts helped Bakersfield post 49 points, the most the `Runners scored in the first half in the Icardo Center all season.

Second Half

Bakersfield built its lead up to 11 points at 60-49 just over five minutes into the period, but CSUN did not back down. The Matadors tied the score at 63-63 with 8:21 remaining and the score wound up tied three more times down the stretch.

With CSUB leading 76-74 with just over four minutes left, CSUN went on an 11-2 run, scoring all but two of those points at the free throw line. A Justin McCall second-chance layup pulled CSUB within three points with 1.5 seconds left on the clock and CSUB sent CSUN to the free throw line. The Matador shooter missed both attempts and a two-thirds court heave by De'Monte Buckingham found the backboard but did not go in as Bakersfield fell by the final score of 90-87.

Big West Basketball Championship

The `Runners (15-10, 9-7 BWC) will begin preparing for the Air Force Reserve Big West Basketball Championship to be held in Las Vegas, Mar. 9-13. Bakersfield has clinched a first-round bye and will kick off the tournament on Thursday, Mar. 11, with its second-round opponent still to be determined.

~GoRunners.com~

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