Reporter
The game was not close for very long as the CSU Bakersfield men’s basketball team pulled away late in the first half en route to a 75-53 victory against the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley on Saturday night at the Icardo Center.
The win over UTRGV paired with New Mexico State University’s 83-71 loss to Grand Canyon University on Saturday night, puts CSUB in sole possession of first place in the Western Athletic Conference.
This is the latest the Roadrunners have been first in the conference standings since joining the WAC.
The Roadrunners were led by redshirt-sophomore Daminyne Durham, who led all scorers with 17 points on 7 for 12 shooting.
“I thought our guys came back really good on the defensive end, as we normally have been at [home] recently,” said CSUB coach Rod Barnes.
UTRGV struggled finding the bottom of the net from all over the floor, shooting only 29 percent for the game.
CSUB forced the issue defensively as it outscored the Vaqueros 25-6 on fast break points and scored 25 points off turnovers.
The Roadrunners also totaled 12 steals and 10 blocked shots.
With less than 30 seconds to go in the first half, senior guard Justin Pride stole the ball and pushed it up the court. He found a trailing Durham, who then hit a three-pointer to give CSUB a 40-24 halftime lead.
Four players from the Roadrunners finished with double digits in scoring.
Redshirt-senior forward Matt Smith recorded a double-double on the night with 13 points and 10 rebounds. He also added 3 blocks.
“We just wanted to come out here and handle our own business tonight. We are just trying the best that we can and we got to get a lot better,” said Smith.
With 12:43 left in the second half, freshman forward Taze Moore sustained an injury as he attempted a dunk. Moore went down in pain, grabbing the back of his right leg when landing on the ground.
Moore was taken off the court with his right leg in a splint administered by medics.
No further information has been released on his injury.
“We’ll go check on him,” said Barnes. “Obviously, he’s in our thoughts and our prayers. Sometimes things look bad and they’re not that bad. Sometimes they look like nothing happened and they happened. Once I find out I will let you guys know.”
The Roadrunners are scheduled to play at Utah Valley University Thursday, Feb. 16 at 5 p.m. in Orem, Utah.
