MERCED, Calif. - The University of California, Merced men's basketball team led by double figures nearly the entire night and beat Bethesda University of California for the second time this season, 97-75 Wednesday night on Hostetler Court.
The Bobcats (6-2) shot 43% (13-30) from downtown and got at least one triple from six individuals. The 13 three-pointers marked the most since November 26, 2016, against Westmont.
Sophomore Jonah Cottrell led four Bobcats in double figures and tied his career-high with 18 points. Aaron Laflin (17 points), Kyle Daugherty (15 points) and Kingsley Oboralt (11 points) all finished with season-highs.
Laflin also grabbed nine rebounds and blocked a season-high three shots.
The Bobcats grabbed the lead for good when Laflin drained back-to-back triples to put his team up 8-6. Both makes came off a feed from Cole Taira, who finished with a career-high 10 assists.
With a 10-8 lead five minutes into the game, the Bobcats exploded on a 20-8 run to gain a double figure lead that held for all but 57 seconds the rest of the half.
Kyle Daugherty put the Bobcats over the 40 point mark with a stellar final four minutes of the half. The junior gave the Bobcats a 40-26 lead at the 3:41 mark and would go on to score six more points before intermission. Daugherty's final bucket of the half came just before the buzzer, after Laflin recorded a block at the other end of the floor and threw it ahead to Haywood.
Haywood's assist to Daugherty to make it 49-37 heading into locker rooms was one of six assists he had on the night.
Cottrell opened up the second half with a three-point field goal, his tenth of the year. He made his third triple of the game, eleventh of the year, four minutes later to give the Bobcats a 61-46 advantage with just under 15 minutes to go in the game.
However, Bethesda cut the Bobcats lead down to eight and then six on back-to-back possessions midway through the half. Despite the quick offensive burst from Bethesda, the game only remained within ten points for a minute and 28 seconds (10:58-9:30). It was Daugherty who put the Bobcats back up by double figures and the Bobcats closed out the night on a 32-15 run.
Haywood was responsible for giving the Bobcats their first 20+ point lead of the night at 89-68. The Chino, Calif., native extended the lead to 23 two possessions later and the Bobcats scored their final four points at the charity stripe to finalize their 97-75 victory.
The Bobcats 97 points were the most since they set the school record on October 28, 2017, with 107 points in a 107-61 win over West Coast Baptist.
Of the Bobcats 97 points, 18 came off of turnovers and 47 came from the Bobcats bench.
Aside from Daugherty and Oborait, Williams and M. Laflin eached tallied eight points off the bench. Junior Raphael Durr finished with five points, five rebounds and a pair of assists.
Up next, the Bobcats visit the Icardo Center in Bakersfield, Calif., for a game against NCAA D1 opponent Cal State Bakersfield on Tuesday, December 4. Tipoff is set for 7:00pm.
