CSUB men, women fall to Long Beach St. in Big West debuts

On the verge of grabbing a thrilling win, a tough call instead brought on a heartbreaking finish in Cal State Bakersfield’s first men’s basketball game in the Big West.

Shaden Knight drew a foul off an inbounds pass and sent the game to overtime with a pair of free throws in the final seconds, and Long Beach State eventually prevailed with a 90-89 overtime win over the Roadrunners Friday.

CSUB appeared to have the game locked up when Justin McCall delivered a putback slam dunk with 1.6 seconds remaining, giving his team a 75-73 lead and forcing the Beach to go the length of the floor with almost no time remaining.

But with the inbounds passer allowed to run the baseline, Knight came down to set a screen on Taze Moore, who barreled through him hard enough the officials believed it was worthy of a foul.

Knight hit both free throws and also drew the fifth foul on Moore, leaving CSUB without his services in the overtime period.

Long Beach State, which hit 12-of25 from 3-point range, pulled ahead for good with three triples in the extra period, a surge started when Michael Carter connected from deep on the first possession of overtime.

Justin Edler-Davis, who was one of six ‘Runners in double figures, hit a 3 of his own as time expired, but it left his team a point short.

Shaun Williams led CSUB with 19 points, while Shawn Stith recorded a 13-point, 11-rebound double-double.

The Roadrunners came up short despite holding a 50-25 edge on the glass.

CSUB will have a chance to get one back against the Beach today, as the teams will face off again at 4 p.m. in Long Beach.