Roadrunners easily handle Life Pacific

A get-right game against an NAIA opponent served its purpose for the Cal State Bakersfield men’s basketball team, which found a rhythm from the outside that has been lacking early in the season.

Shooting just 23 percent from 3-point range in their first three games, the Roadrunners came out on fire from deep, hitting their first four attempts en route to a 91-51 win over Life Pacific on Friday at Icardo Center.

After hitting no more than six triples in its early games, CSUB hit eight in the first half, with De’Monte Buckingham, Taze Moore and Cam Allen going a combined 7-of-9 from deep. The ‘Runners finished 10-of-21 from deep.

This hot shooting helped the Roadrunners build a 54-29 halftime lead. They scored just 55 points total in a 12-point loss to Northern Iowa on Wednesday.

“It’s a big confidence boost,” said Allen, who finished with 10 points. “We put in the work, it hasn’t been reflecting up to this point in the season, we haven’t been shooting (well) but we really put a lot of work since the summer. (Shots are) going to fall eventually. The work’s not going to fail you.”

Buckingham led all players with 19 points and eight rebounds. Moore added 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting while Czar Perry had six assists.

After a couple sluggish second half defensive performances in losses to South Dakota State and Northern Iowa, CSUB forced 18 turnovers and held the Warriors to 34 percent shooting from the floor.

After an intense film session on Thursday following a late return from Iowa, players say there was heightened focus on getting back in rhythm defensively against an inferior opponent.

“We were trying to make some corrections on the defensive end today, that was our main focus,” said Buckingham, who also had a gamehigh three steals. “We had a long film session last night and our main focus of that film session was just to communicate more on defense. We

came out today just trying to help each other, communicate with one another.”

Friday’s game, which tipped off at 11 a.m., was CSUB’s annual Education Day game.

A sold out crowd that consisted of almost exclusively school-aged children and their educators, routinely filled the Icardo Center with highpitched shrieks.

“Education Day is probably one of the brightest spots to me, one of the most exciting times for me during the season,” Roadrunner coach Rod Barnes said. “We get an opportunity as a program to put a smile on their face and give them hope that one day, whether they want to be a player or just want to be a student, to attend college.”

CSUB has a pair of road games next week, staring with a 7 p.m. Tuesday tip against San Francisco.