Roadrunners complete sweep of Cal Poly, improve to 3-1 in Big West
Justin Edler-Davis helped put away a pesky Cal Poly team and Cal State Bakersfield continued its strong start in its inaugural Big West season.
Edler-Davis scored eight of his 12 points in a 2:02 stretch late in the second half and CSUB pulled away for a 67-50 win in men’s basketball play at the Icardo Center Saturday.
A 12-2 run towards the end of the first half gave CSUB a 32-23 lead at the break, but numerous struggles on the offensive end prevented the ‘Runners from putting the game away.
But the decisive blow finally seemed to come when Edler-Davis drained a contested 3-pointer just as the shot clock expired, giving the Roadrunners a 51-39 lead with 4:56 remaining. The senior guard followed that up with an emphatic putback dunk of a Shaun Williams miss, then added another triple with 2:54 to play.
Taze Moore led CSUB with 18 points. De’Monte Buckingham had 13 while he, Moore and Ronne Readus all pulled down a team-best seven rebounds. Justin McCall also scored in double figures with 11.
The balanced scoring negated what was, at times, a poor shooting effort, particularly at the foul line, where the Roadrunners went just 11-of-19.
Luckily, the defense held up its end of the bargain, holding the Mustangs to 32 percent shooting from the floor. CSUB, which entered the night tied for the national lead in offensive rebounds per game (16), were strong in that area again, pulling down 15 boards.
Saturday marked a milestone win for the Roadrunners, who earned their 250th victory inside the Icardo Center. They also improved to 5-0 on their home floor this season.
Winners of three straight, the ’Runners improve to 7-4 overall and 3-1 in the Big West.
They are currently alone in second place in league play, a half-game back of defending champion UC Irvine.
CSUB won’t be on its home court again for nearly three weeks, as it takes to the road for a pair of series the next two weekends, beginning with back-to-back tilts at Hawaii next Friday and Saturday.