CSUB grinds out a win
Last Updated Friday, Nov 20 2009 03:28 PM
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Casey Christie / The Californian Cal State's guard Stephon Carter goes to the hoop, Tuesday evening at the Rabobank Arena against Utah Valley's Eric Dearden during game action.
Casey Christie / The Californian Cal State's Santwon Latunde, battles with Utah Valley's Rory Fannon, under the boards Tuesday at Rabobank Arena.
Casey Christie / The Californian Cal State's Stephon Carter was all over the court Tuesday at the Rabobank Arena, including in this shot on defense against Utah Valley's Aaron England.
Cal State Bakersfield is going to look to its veterans to make big plays when games are on the line.
And the veterans came through Tuesday night.
Crucial points from seniors Trent Blakley and Santwon Latunde and three-year starting junior guard Donavan Bragg were the difference in CSUB's 58-51 win over Utah Valley before an announced crowd of 2,170 in Rabobank Arena.
CSUB (1-1) won despite having only nine assists and a cold shooting night -- 20-of-62. Utah Valley (1-1) had only seven assists and was held to 38 percent shooting in the second half.
"It reminded me of the game at their place last year," CSUB coach Keith Brown said, referring to a 63-58 win in February. "We shot only 28 percent that night but had 58 rebounds in a win. We didn't have that many rebounds, but it was one of those grind-it-out games."
Blakley and Latunde had 18 points each with key points down the stretch. Latunde's three-point play following an offensive rebound gave CSUB its biggest lead of the night, 51-44, with 2:41 left. He led CSUB with 9 rebounds.
Then Blakley hit a 10-foot hook shot and driving bank shot to twice put CSUB ahead by six, the latter with 1:04 left. Bragg then hit three free throws in the final 29 seconds to thwart any Utah Valley hope of a comeback.
"We know what Utah Valley will bring to us," Blakley said. "We beat Utah Valley last year, and that brought confidence to our team. We want to sweep them again. We did a nice job taking care of the ball and finishing strong."
CSUB was only 4-of-24 on 3-point attempts, including 2-of-13 in the first half. Both of the second-half 3s were crucial -- freshman Stephon Carter's only bucket of the night with 7:44 left that gave CSUB a 45-41 lead and a Bryan Emanuel bucket with 5:31 left that made it 48-42.
"They know I'm a threat, that Trent's a threat, that Donavan's a threat slashing," Latunde said. "They wanted us to settle for the '3'. We got better rotation in the second half and knocked down some shots."
Emanuel's "3" came during a 5:54 stretch when CSUB limited the Wolverines to one point. CSUB went ahead for good during that time on Latunde's driving layup with 8:17 left.
"Our guys did a great job," Brown said. "We ended up with a couple of steals. We put pressure on them. We did a good job on the boards -- we limited them to one shot. ... It was a pretty solid six or seven minutes of play."
Carter was only 1-of-8 from the field, but he caused havoc for Utah Valley by helping out on defense and passing for four assists.
"Steph is a playmaker," Brown said. "He gets in the seams and gaps. He has what coaches refer to as a tremendous motor. People say he's not a shooter but he hit a big shot for us tonight. ... He's a winner."
CSUB was outrebounded in the first half but wound up with a 39-38 edge. CSUB had 18 offensive boards.
"They really hurt us on the offensive boards," said Utah Valley coach Dick Hunsaker. "In the second half I thought they got more life in their step and our shots were not going down. Give credit to the defensive effort by Bakersfield."
Notes: Centennial High grad Nick Jenson made his collegiate debut for Utah Valley and scored his first points on a layup with 2:05 left in the first half. "Nick's a work in progress," Hunsaker said. "He's switching from playing a '5' (at Centennial) to a '3'. That's been an adjustment. He's tremendous young kid and a hard worker. I'm happy for him. He did a nice job in the short stint he was in there."
