Macias

Sports Editor

Finding itself down early, the CSU Bakersfield men’s basketball team took over at the end of the first half to beat Seattle University 72-47 on Friday at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nev.

CSUB advanced to the Western Athletic Conference Tournament Championship.

“It’s a great win for our program. A great win for this team,” said CSUB head coach Rod Barnes. “I’m really proud of this team. I’m excited about being in the finals.”

The Roadrunners trailed early in the beginning of the game before gaining its first lead 14-11 at the 11:53 mark of the first half coming from a three-point jumper by redshirt-junior guard Jaylin Airington, who had 16 points on the night.

Senior forward Kevin Mays was not in the starting lineup for the Roadrunners but scored 18 points in 18 minutes for his team.

“I feel like I gave a lot the past two games we played, but I feel like I have more than I should’ve gave,” said Mays. “I was definitely positive about not starting. I understand that Matt (Smith) was phenomenal yesterday and sometimes you got to make sacrifices for the team.”

CSUB junior guard Justin Pride had 12 assists in the game, which is a CSUB Division I school record, previously held by Issiah Grayson who had 11 twice in the 2012 season.

No player from on CSUB played over 30 minutes in the game. The most was 28 minutes that was played by Pride.

The Roadrunners will face longtime rival and number one seed New Mexico State tonight.

The Roadrunners are 0-10 all-time against the Aggies.

There’s no doubt that CSUB wanted to face New Mexico State and redeem itself for the past performances the Roadrunners had against them.

“Personally, I wouldn’t want to play any other team,” said Mays. “The guys in the locker room were talking and we were kind of praying that (New Mexico State) won.”