Editor-in-Chief

With Homecoming approaching, the CSU Bakersfield men’s basketball team will be playing in its most important stretch of the season.

The Roadrunners (11-15, 4-7 WAC) defeated Grand Canyon University 71-58 on Saturday, Feb. 17 to stay ahead of the University of Missouri-Kansas City for the sixth spot in the Western Athletic Conference.

The two teams have identical conference records, however, CSUB is ahead of UMKC due to having a better overall record.

CSUB was led against GCU by redshirt-junior guard Damiyne Durham who scored a game-high of 17 points.

Redshirt-freshman forward Justin Davis sparked the Roadrunners with a season-high of 15 points and 12 rebounds to notch his first-career double-double.

“The way we played tonight, if we keep playing that way, we can play really well going into March,” said Davis. “It’s great for our confidence.”

When redshirt-senior Brent Wrapp dished out his 500th career assist on Saturday night, he became the second Roadrunner ever to reach this feat.

Head coach Rod Barnes is confident the team will continue to grow going into the final stretch of the season.

“Your bench is going to have to be a factor,” said Barnes. “We got to continue to move some other guys forward. Hopefully we can get there and everybody can be ready to play.”

The Roadrunners will welcome Utah Valley University to town on Thursday, Feb. 22. The Wolverines blew out CSUB 75-42 in the conference opener on Jan. 6 in Orem, Utah.

On Saturday, Feb. 24, the Roadrunners will take on Seattle University on Homecoming Night at 6 p.m. at the Icardo Center.

Homecoming will also double as Senior Night where CSUB will honor its five seniors, forwards Shon Briggs and James Suber and centers Moataz Aly and Fallou N’doye and Wrapp.

The Roadrunners will wrap up the regular season on the road against Grand Canyon on Saturday, March 3. The WAC tournament begins on Thursday, March 8 in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Orleans Arena.