CSUB Men’s basketball came off a huge win last weekend against UC San Diego which is third in the Big West Conference. 

The Runners came out hot on a 9-0 run leaving UC San Diego helpless. The Runners held the lead for most of the first half with UC San Diego coming back, making it a very back and forth game in the first half. CSUB had the lead going into half with the score of 29-27. 

“They’re playing pretty good. They are playing lots of good defense and they’re playing pretty aggressive. Once they get the momentum they carry it with them,” said Edithza Orozco, a fan, about the Runner’s first half performance.  

Just like the first half, the second half was a very back and forth game. Getting near the end of the second half UC San Diego got a technical and the Runners started to break away. Naseem Gaskin had a big breakaway dunk to send the crowd into a frenzy. Then right after Dalph Panopio threw up a huge alley-oop to Tom Mark to seal the game. CSUB won with a final score of 70-57. 

Kaleb Higgins had an amazing senior night game with 29 points in his last game at the Icardio Center and Marvin McGhee III also had a big game putting up 15 points. 

When Kaleb Higgins was asked about what led CSUB scoring UC San Diego in the second half he said, “Our defense. We stopped them and made them shoot 28 percent from the field and 30 percent from the three. It’s great. It’s Bakersfield basketball.” 

“I’m just happy and excited that the last game of the year we win on our home court,” said Coach Rob Barnes about their win on UC San Diego. 

CSUB is traveling to Cal Poly on Saturday to hopefully make it a three-win streak for the Runners.