Roadrunners bounced out in WAC tourney quarterfinals

Vincent Perez

March 8, 2018

Sports Editor

LAS VEGAS – A cinderella run was not in the cards for the CSU Bakersfield men’s basketball this season, as they were defeated by second-seeded Utah Valley University 81-74 in the Western Athletic Conference quarterfinals.

After winning the WAC tournament in 2016 and a trip to the National Invitation Tournament semifinals last season, the Roadrunners season came to sudden halt on Thursday.

Damiyne Durham lets it fly from deep against Utah Valley in a Western Athletic Conference Tournament quarterfinals game at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.

“The thing about that team, it’s difficult to try to focus on one guy,” said CSUB head coach Rod Barnes. “We just wanted to take away as many threes as possible.”

UVU shot 10-22 (45 percent) from distance against CSUB.

UVU also rebounded efficiently. They tallied up 39 rebounds to CSUB’s 27.

Barnes said that the Wolverines were hard to defend, no matter how the Roadrunners guarded them.

“They’ve got a good team,” said Barnes.

The Roadrunners trailed 43-31 at the half. Utah Valley led by as many as 15 in the first half.

After getting blown out in the first two games against the Wolverines this season, CSUB outscored UVU 43-38 in the second half.

The Roadrunners came within two points in the second half, when Damiyne Durham put in two free throws, trailing 48-46 with 12:45 left in the game.

Durham scored a game-high 29 points on 12-22 shooting. He also knocked down five three-pointers.

Barnes said that Utah Valley deserves credit.

“I thought our guys were resilient. We got close enough but it’s experience,” said Barnes.

At one point, the Roadrunners had four freshmen on the court at one time: Justin Davis, Justin McCall, Greg Lee and Jarkel Joiner.

Redshirt-senior guard Brent Wrapp calls out a play against Utah Valley in a Western Athletic Conference Tournament quarterfinals game at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.

The Roadrunners had trouble stopping the cousin duo of Jake and Conner Toolson. Jake finished with 19 points while Conner had 18.

“We like to motivate each other and get each other going,” said Conner Toolson. “We know that if we’re going, the rest of the team will compete well.”

Redshirt-senior guard Brent Wrapp, playing in his last game as a Roadrunner, finished with seven points, five assists four rebounds and two steals.

Wrapp tied the all-time CSUB record for assists with 520.

“He took a vision we had…he’s a cornerstone for our program,“ said Barnes on Wrapp’s time at CSUB.

“I’m really humbled,” said Wrapp with a sniffle. “To have a record like that, I pride myself in making my teammates better.”

Another milestone was reached on Thursday as senior center Moataz Aly broke the CSUB all-time block record. Aly broke the record of 107 and finished his career with 109.

Utah Valley will take on Grand Canyon University in the semifinals on Friday, March 9 at 6 p.m.