Editor-in-Cheif
After securing its first win of the season in a 111-75 rout of the University of Antelope Valley on Education Day, the CSU Bakersfield men’s basketball team embarked on a trip to the Bahamas for the inaugural Junkanoo Jam.
The tournament, which was held at Resorts World Bimini, featured three others teams. The University of Central Michigan, San Jose State and Weber State University along with CSUB made up the four-team field.
Winning two of three over the weekend, the Roadrunners improved to 3-2 on the season.
In the opener on Friday night, the Roadrunners fell 67-55 to Central Michigan. The Chippewas opened up a 17-point lead late in the first half thanks to some stingy defense.
However, in the second half, CSUB began to claw back into the game.
Trailing 34-22 early in the second half, the Roadrunners reeled off a 25-12 spurt to take a 47-43 lead with nine minutes to play.
Then, after the two teams exchanged leads several times, the game was tied at 54 with just over three minutes left.
Central Michigan went on a run of its own as the Roadrunner offense went cold.
The Chippewas closed the game on a 13-2 run to put CSUB away.
Central Michigan had four players in double figures and were led by senior guard Shawn Roundtree with 16 points.
Redshirt-senior Damiyne Durham paced the Roadrunners with 16 points, while redshirt-sophomore forward Greg Lee added 12 points and nine rebounds.
In the middle game of the weekend, the Roadrunners secured a 73-72 win over San Jose State, thanks to a school-record 17 steals.
Trailing 63-53 with just under four and half minutes to play, CSUB ran off 11 straight points to take a one-point lead just over two minutes left.
Then with the game tied, redshirt-sophomore Justin Edler-Davis hit a three-pointer with 20 seconds left to give the Roadrunners a late lead.
A free throw by sophomore guard Jarkel Joiner pushed the lead to four before a last second three by Central Michigan completed the scoring.
Joiner led CSUB with 22 points and redshirt-sophomore Taze Moore tied a school-record with six steals in the win.
In the weekend finale, CSUB took down Weber State 68-67.
The Roadrunners were up 33-30 heading into halftime after leading by as many as 13 points.
In the second half, the Wildcats used a 25-10 start to take a 55-43 with just under 12 minutes to play.
CSUB battled back and cut Weber State’s lead to a single point before Durham nailed a three with only five seconds left to give the Roadrunners the lead.
A stop of the defensive end on the ensuing possession gave the Roadrunners the win in nail-biting fashion.
Lee led CSUB with 17 points.
Up next, the Roadrunners are scheduled to take the University of Southern California in Los Angeles on Sunday, Nov. 25 at 4 p.m. The game will air on the Pac-12 Network.
