By Esteban Ramirez

Sports Editor

Men’s Basketball

It has been an interesting season for the California State University, Bakersfield men’s basketball team to say the least.

While CSUB students have been away during the winter break, the ’Runners (5-13, 1-2 Western Athletic Conference) continued their season and have lost in some close and unusual ways to start the season but also have had some big wins as of late.

“I thought we made progress,” CSUB coach Rod Barnes said. “I think that’s one of the biggest things that we tried to do. I thought we worked our way to get better every week, and I think we’ve done that. We’re a much better team than we were a month ago, and hopefully getting [junior center Aly Ahmed] back people will be impressed with what we have been able to do.”

Ahmed has led CSUB with 14.4 points per game and 6.7 rebounds per game. Junior forward Kevin Mays has added 9.4 points per game and a team-high 7.9 rebounds per game.

After a home win against the University of Delaware on Nov. 23, CSUB had trouble closing out games as they lost six straight games, including four games by two points or fewer.

The ’Runners had a 17-point lead against the University of South Dakota on Nov. 30, but after losing leading-scorer Ahmed because of two technicals, CSUB relinquished the lead and lost 68-66. CSUB then hosted UC Riverside on Dec. 2 and lost 59-58 due to costly turnovers in the final minutes and crucial free throw misses in the final seconds.

Against Fresno State on Dec. 6, the game was tied 61-61 with 20 seconds remaining, the ‘Runners’ junior guard Dashawn Richmond tried to call for a timeout after slipping but CSUB had no timeouts left. A technical foul was assessed and the Bulldogs’ junior guard Marvelle Harris made both free throws, which gave Fresno State a 63-61 win.

Despite having such demoralizing losses, the ’Runners were able to compose themselves and beat Idaho State University on Dec. 20 as they headed into a big game against University of California, Berkeley.

CSUB was able to beat UC Berkeley 55-52 on Dec. 28 behind a strong defensive performance in which they forced 17 turnovers. The ’Runners were able to build a 17-point lead, and CSUB was able to close out the game and got its first win over a PAC-12 opponent.

“It’s a different kind of team in the standpoint of confidence,” Barnes said. “I think our guys were believing all along that we had a chance to be a good team, but I think they have proven it to themselves.

“I always felt that we had the ability and talent to play well and to pull off one of these wins. It’s something we’ve been pushing and searching for these past three years. We feel it was a statement win.”

They carried that momentum over against the University of La Verne as they beat them 87-36 on Dec. 31, but they lost Ahmed to an injury that game and went on a three-game losing skid.

But the ’Runners rebounded after getting Ahmed back and got their first win in the WAC by beating University of Texas-Pan American 66-53 on Jan. 17.

“We never feel like we are going to lose and after that University of La Verne game when Aly got hurt, it’s tough to make that adjustment and put guys in those key roles,” junior forward Kevin Mays said. “But now that we got him back, we feel strong about it and we’re rolling now so [everyone] can look forward to a lot of wins.”

The game against UTPA was the perfect example of what this season has been about for CSUB. In the first half, the ’Runners shot 50 percent building a 17-point lead, but in the second half they went on a cold stretch shooting just 28 percent and the Broncs cut the lead to 55-49 with 4:56 left in the game. They were able to rely on their defense like they did against Cal. They were able to get two big free throws from Ahmed and finished the game on a 9-4 run.

CSUB will play at University of Missouri-Kansas City on Jan. 22.

Women’s Basketball

The California State University, Bakersfield women’s basketball team has been thriving in the spotlight this year.

During the winter break, the ’Runners (12-6, 1-2 Western Athletic Conference) went 10-5 and have yet to lose at home winning all 10 games at the Icardo Center.

“I thought they did very well,” CSUB coach Greg McCall said on his team’s performance during the break. “I thought there were times when we could’ve played a little better in some of those games even though we pulled out the win, but we figured out ways to win and that’s what good teams eventually try to do. They try to find ways to win games, and that’s what we always end up doing.”

Leading the way for CSUB has been redshirt-senior guard Tyonna Outland, who is averaging 18.9 points per game, 5.2 rebounds per game and 3.1 assists per game. Outland is poised to break the school’s scoring record- with just nine points remaining. Senior guard Brooklynn Hinkens has also added 10.7 points per game.

Despite their strong play at home, the ’Runners have struggled on the road going 2-6.

McCall said that 80-68 loss against the University of Nebraska Omaha on Dec. 11 was partly due to a delayed flight and then the next game against University of Nebraska on Dec. 13 they lost 54-45 because of missed opportunities and not getting to the free-throw line once the whole game. He said that the 71-66 loss against Cal Poly on Jan. 3 was on him because he could’ve made some changes to speed the game up.

“We were getting turnovers that we wanted against them,” he said. “The turnovers we were getting were travel calls and throwing the ball out of bounds, but none of those turnovers ever turned into fastbreak points. There were some things I should’ve done differently, pressed them a little more, sped it up and got some steals that way.”

After the loss to Cal Poly, CSUB regained momentum at home and beat University California Santa Barbara 74-64 on Dec. 6 and then followed with a 90-67 conference win over Grand Canyon University on Dec. 10.

But the ’Runners struggles away from home continued as they lost two conference games on the road. They lost to New Mexico State University 90-78 on Jan. 15 and to University of Texas-Pan American 77-60 on Jan. 17.

“We’ve got to do a better job of going on the road and playing a lot better,” McCall said. “We know that and we are excited about the fact that it’s conference time. I think our girls are ready for the challenge. I don’t think they are really paying attention to our record on the road or anything like that. It’s more about us going out there and just playing. We are going to go out there and take care of business.”

Despite the struggles on the road, McCall said that he is pleased with his team by how hard they play, how they play together, how much they want to win and how much they want to compete, but what he’s most impressed by is how hard they have been playing defense.

“It has been the most impressive thing I’ve seen with this group,” he said. “I think we’ve been a really good defensive team, but what they are doing on the floor defensively now is really picking teams apart.”

McCall added that the thing that concerns him is rebounding because even though they have added a bit more size this year, he thinks they are still an undersized team compared to other teams.

“We need to play hard defense,” McCall said on what the team needs to do the rest of the season. “We just have to keep playing defense the way we are playing, create easy buckets for ourselves and for each other, play harder than the other teams and play smarter than the other teams. We always talk about playing hard, smart and together, and now I have added the ‘er’ to them because this is the second half of the season and this is when everything counts.”

CSUB will play the University of Missouri-Kansas City on Jan. 22.