Senior Staff Writer
It was an intense win for CSUB as they defeated the University of Idaho 66-55 on Saturday, Dec. 10 in the Icardo Center to complete a two-game series sweep.
“It felt like a conference game,” said CSUB head coach Rod Barnes. “It was an intense game. It was really a heated battle. There was a lot of stuff going on out there on the court as far as physicality.”
Three separate technical fouls were called at the 12:06 mark of the second half. An apparent elbow thrown by CSUB senior center Fallou Ndoye on Idaho senior forward Arkadiy Mkrtychyan caused a flurry between the two teams. Referee Horace Shields gathered his assistant officials to review the play and issued a technical foul on Ndoye for the elbow.
Shields also issued technical fouls on Mkrtychyan and Idaho coach Don Verlin for unsportsmanlike actions.
“We already played them this year so anytime you play someone twice you know it’s going to be a rough game,” said redshirt-senior guard Brent Wrapp. “We were ready for it tonight and I think we answered the challenge.”
CSUB redshirt-junior Damiyne Durham led the Roadrunners with 19 points off the bench. 14 of his points came in the first half as Durham finished the game shooting 7-of-15 form the floor while adding six rebounds and three steals to finish the night.
“(Damiyne) was huge for us,” said Wrapp. “I told him that after the game…Tonight he was all around. He made some big plays for us on defense…He made some real big steals for us and I thought his shot selection was really good tonight.”
The Roadrunners (6-6) came out to a slow start against the Vandals (6-3) as they were held to just three points in the first 6:34 in the first half. CSUB showed some resilience on the defensive end, which has been a strong point of their game in years past, but not as of late this season.
The Roadrunners forced 27 turnovers to a Vandals team who is averaging 13.5 turnovers per game.
“We’re really trying to get back into shape with our defense,” said CSUB redshirt-freshman Justin Davis. “We can really score the ball, but we’re going to be really special if we can defend.”
The Roadrunners kept the Vandals within arm’s length for the majority of the game. In their last matchup on Nov. 24, Davis hit the game-winning three to put the Roadrunners over the Vandals. Despite his inexperience, Davis was able to make his presence felt on Saturday night as he scored 10 points and grabbed four boards.
CSUB will take a week off as they get ready to face Georgia Southern University, who they lost to in Statesboro, Georgia on Monday Nov. 13 77-53, on Dec. 16 at 2 p.m. in the Icardo Center.
“We’re going to treat it like any other week,” said Wrapp on playing Georgia Southern next. “We got revenge on our mind. (Georgia Southern) smacked us down there so we got to come back and give it to them here (at CSUB).
